Malaysia cancels registration of main opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional
The Registrar of Societies acted on Tuesday amid a dispute between Bersatu and PAS; PN says it will file a legal challenge against the order.
Malaysia has cancelled the registration of Perikatan Nasional (PN), the country's main opposition coalition, according to CNA. A row involving the coalition's main member parties was under way when the step was taken on Tuesday (Oct 20). Once PN has been dissolved, the parties that made it up cannot run in the polls together under one shared banner.
A complaint over a July meeting
In July, a PN supreme council meeting went ahead without Bersatu, headed by ex-prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, and the party raised this in a complaint lodged with the Registrar of Societies (RoS). Its complaint characterised the exclusion as PAS, its rival, violating the constitution of the coalition. Each of the two parties is contending to head the coalition. Bersatu is a Malay nationalist party, while PAS is a conservative Islamist party. PAS holds more seats than any other single party in the 222-member parliament.
The RoS said in a Tuesday statement that PN's response to its warning last month was unsatisfactory. It said "the reasons given failed to refute the grounds for the cancellation of registration".
PN to challenge the order
Takiyuddin Hassan, who serves as PN's secretary-general and also belongs to the PAS leadership, said the bloc intended to take the order to court. "PN condemns this action as an attempt to ... weaken political opponents ahead of the Melaka election," he said in a statement.
Free Malaysia Today reported that, in his account, the RoS sent its show-cause notice on Sep 22, when the Melaka state assembly's dissolution was announced, and halted PN's activities one day afterwards. According to The Star, Takiyuddin said the parties within the coalition had not yet settled on the logo for the Melaka polls.
Melaka votes on Nov 14
Nomination day for the Melaka state election is Oct 31, early voting is on Nov 10 and polling is on Nov 14. Following losses in two other state-level contests earlier this year, the vote poses a fresh challenge to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. In the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state polls, Bersatu and PAS campaigned separately even though they contested under the PN banner.
Continuing friction inside the multi-party government led by Anwar could also bring on a snap national election. Local media have reported that cooperation for the Melaka polls is under discussion between BN and PAS, as the two parties themselves have stated.
