Umno Youth chief questions how long PPBM will remain in Perikatan following internal crises

KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — In pledging his party’s loyalty to the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, Umno Youth Chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today targeted colleagues in Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), as he questioned their longevity within the PN alliance.

The Umno leader, in response to reports of supposed friction within PN after his party refused to formalise the alliance, declared that all MPs within the alliance are behind Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He pointed out that PN as a coalition was not equal to that of Barisan Nasional or Muafakat Nasional (MN), explaining among the main issues being observed before formalising the pact is the ongoing internal crisis in PPBM.

Asyraf said PN was a name suggested to label the cooperation as a pact, while BN was an official coalition consisting of its component parties; Umno, MCA, MIC, and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS).

Asyraf said as for MN, despite it also not being officially registered like PN, the pact was formed after a lengthy process of negotiations, discussions, and ‘mind-conditioning’ among its members through public speeches that stretched over a period of more than a year.  

Asyraf then questioned how long PPBM could last in PN especially after its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Youth wing leader Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman have publicly declared their refusal to cooperate with Umno.

“The president of PPBM (Muhyiddin) is also being challenged by the son of PPBM’s chairman in their upcoming party elections,” Asyraf wrote in a statement, referring to Dr Mahathir’s son, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir.

He pointed out the other challenges that arose was how a majority of PPBM MPs were former Umno members who had won their seats at the elections under an Umno ticket.

“The matter of Umno leaving PN has never come up because generally all its members and the people are grateful for the formation of this government that managed to liberate the country from the tedious political crises while simultaneously freeing the country from the chauvinist and racist party in DAP, and the greed of PKR who from the beginning of its formation are only focused on the fight to elevate its president as the prime minister,” Asyraf wrote on Facebook.

“Umno will continue to defend the PN government until GE15 to ensure that this Islamic and Bumiputera-based government is able to repair all the damage that was done by the former Pakatan Harapan government,” he added.