KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition government has failed to bring about the political stability that it had hoped for as he rejected Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin’s suggestion for a formal charter spanning PN, Barisan Nasional and Gabungan Parti Sarawak to jointly contest the next general election.
Reminding PN that the formation of the ruling government was only made possible through the cooperation between MPs who did not reflect the people’s choice, Mohamed Khaled said there was no need for the formation of a formal political charter spanning several coalitions as that merely demonstrates a survival strategy to obtain support from the largest political parties, rather than support from the masses.
“What guarantees that this ‘coalition over coalition’ will bring about the political stability that Malaysia needs?
“Malaysia needs a strong government with a real mandate without any further delay. Something that does not lead to such a goal is questionable and unnecessary,” he said in a statement here.
On Hamzah’s ‘grand coalition’ proposal, Mohamed Khaled said its aim and final goals must be made clear as the establishment of political cooperation only occurs if the largest political party lacks the necessary seats to administer the country effectively which is often agreed upon immediately after an election.
“In a democratic process, the true strength of a government must come from the grassroots and people who needed to be obtained through a General Election.
“PN, BN and GPS must build their strength by garnering votes and the true mandate of the people,” he said, adding that Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia — of which Hamzah is secretary-general — must stop being nostalgic with the stale story of how they sacrificed to save the country.
“Such rhetoric have clearly been depicted as an easy way to ‘save’ the respective parties in order for them to remain in power,” he added.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and PN came to power after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned in February to trigger the collapse of the PH administration.
Since then, however, PN’s rule at the federal and state levels has been characterised by instability due to the informal cooperation with allies such as Umno.
While PN has registered officially, it only has Muhyiddin’s Bersatu, Islamist party PAS, and two Sabah parties as members.
BN, which had governed Malaysia for over six decades until its 2018 defeat, is not a member, nor is GPS, the Sarawak coalition comprising former components of BN that went independent following the 14th general election result.
