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SHAH ALAM – Perikatan Nasional (PN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan has explained the coalition’s decision not to invite Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) to its Supreme Council meeting on July 16.
The explanation follows a complaint lodged by four Bersatu Members of Parliament (MPs) with the Registrar of Societies Malaysia (RoS) on July 13, questioning whether the party’s Supreme Leadership Council (MPT) meeting had met quorum requirements.
“We have already informed RoS about PN’s practices. When any of our component parties faces internal problems, including challenges among its members over appointments and other matters, we will take action by asking that party not to participate in PN meetings.
“This is what happened. If Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Bersatu’s secretary-general, can recall, on July 13, four Bersatu MPs lodged a complaint with RoS regarding the quorum of their MPT meeting,” he said at a press conference in Parliament today.
Takiyuddin said PN had adopted a similar approach when the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) faced internal disputes over positions in January.
He said the coalition had written to MIPP asking it to resolve the issue before it could participate in PN meetings again, adding that MIPP had not referred the matter to RoS.
In Bersatu’s case, Takiyuddin said PN had also sent a letter seeking clarification but had yet to receive a response.
He said the coalition was concerned that Bersatu’s participation in meetings while the complaint remained unresolved could raise questions about the validity of decisions made.
“On that basis, we gave Bersatu the opportunity either to explain the actual situation to us or to obtain clarification from RoS regarding the complaint. Until then, we could not invite them and we would not invite them to the July 16 meeting.
“Notice had been given. I have a record on my phone because I sent it through WhatsApp. There is a blue tick on my WhatsApp message to Bersatu’s secretary-general, meaning it had been seen. To this day, Bersatu has not provided any explanation,” he added.
Takiyuddin also cited Bersatu’s decision to contest the Negeri Sembilan state election using its own logo as another reason for not inviting the party.
He said Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had announced the decision on July 15, a day before the PN meeting.
According to Takiyuddin, the meeting’s agenda included deciding on the coalition’s logo and selecting candidates from its component parties, making Bersatu’s decision incompatible with the matters to be discussed.
“So, that was another reason why we did not need to invite Bersatu to the July 16 meeting, because the first item on the agenda was to determine the logo and the second was to determine the candidates from the component parties.
“Since Bersatu wants to contest on its own, it can contest all 36 seats if it wants to, using the Bersatu logo. There is no longer any need to invite it. If we invite Bersatu to attend, it has already decided to use its own logo,” he said.
