Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) has called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration to dissolve Parliament and initiate the 16th General Election (GE16) following the deregistration of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
Rafique Rashid, Pejuang’s Information Chief, asserted that GE16 should be convened to obtain a renewed mandate if Pakatan Harapan (PH) and its ally, Bersatu, are confident in their grassroots support. “If Pakatan Harapan and Bersatu are certain of public backing for their positions, GE16 should proceed immediately,” he stated. “The public is increasingly frustrated with the maneuvers of Anwar Ibrahim’s government,” he added in a Facebook post on October 20.
Rafique noted that while the dissolution of Parliament is governed by constitutional provisions, the discourse regarding the restoration of the public mandate should remain open.
Regarding the Registrar of Societies’ (ROS) immediate deregistration of PN on October 20, Rafique questioned the justification for what he characterized as a premature action. He observed that the High Court had granted PN leave to pursue a judicial review on October 13 and had scheduled a hearing on October 22 regarding a stay of the suspension. “Could the decision not have been delayed by two days? Does this indicate an intent to restrict democratic rights?” he inquired.
In response, he called on Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to provide a transparent account of the Registrar of Societies’ (ROS) independence in rendering its decision—particularly given its timing ahead of the Melaka state election.
The legal counsel emphasized that the government must avoid creating the impression that administrative authority is being deployed to suppress political competition. He further cautioned the administration against repeating historical instances of power abuse directed at political parties.
In the same statement, Rafique criticized the leadership of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) for appearing the ROS decision while attributing responsibility solely to PAS leadership.
Previously, Bersatu Secretary-General Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali reportedly characterized the ROS deregistration as evidence of governance failure within Perikatan Nasional (PN).
“Bersatu should not express surprise,” Rafique stated. “What is Bersatu’s actual position regarding political cooperation with Pakatan Harapan? While claiming to remain a PN component party, it has pursued the formation of Ikatan Prihatin Rakyat, which appears to serve as a proxy for Pakatan Harapan.”
He also addressed rumors of a potential collaboration between Bersatu and the PH administration in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly (DUN), requesting clarification on whether such arrangements are linked to the internal PN conflict that precipitated the coalition’s deregistration.
Concluding his remarks, Rafique asserted that genuine democracy requires administrative decisions to be subject to open challenge and judicial review, while political mandates must ultimately be validated through the electorate’s choice at the ballot box.
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