Perikatan Nasional


The National Alliance is the ruling conservative and nationalist unofficial political alliance in Malaysia that was created between individual Members of Parliament from the parties of Barisan Nasional, Malaysian United Indigenous Party and Malaysian Islamic Party. Barisan Nasional itself did not join Perikatan Nasional and remains officially separate from the PN alliance. The alliance has been in majority government at the federal level since March 2020, through the support of Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Parti Bersatu Sabah, Homeland Solidarity Party with the majority of only 2 seats, the narrowest majority that any government of Malaysia had up to that point.
The non official alliance was established in February 2020 during the 2020 Malaysian political crisis when PPBM departed from the then-governing Pakatan Harapan coalition. The 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Abdullah of Pahang, appointed Muhyiddin Yassin, the de facto Leader of the Perikatan Nasional, as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia, bringing the informal political alliance into government. On 17 May, the leaders and chairpersons of BN, PPBM, PAS, GPS, PBS, and STAR officially announced a memorandum of understanding formalising Perikatan Nasional.
Perikatan Nasional currently holds 112 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, giving the alliance a one seat working majority in Parliament.

History

2020 Malaysian political crisis and rise to power

Since the morning of 23 February 2020, a faction from Parti Keadilan Rakyat led by its deputy president Azmin Ali who also served as Minister of Economic Affairs, PPBM's supreme council, Muafakat Nasional of Malaysian Islamic Party -United Malays National Organisation pact retreat, UMNO's own supreme council, and GPS's member of the parliament ; all held separate meetings in various locations. These meetings, particularly that of BERSATU and Azmin Ali's faction led to rumours that the formation of a new governing coalition was being undertaken. Later in the evening, an entourage of party leaders including Azmin, PPBM president and then-Minister of Home Affairs Muhiyiddin, UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, PAS president Hadi Awang, GPS chairman Abang Johari Openg and Parti Warisan Sabah president Shafie Apdal arrived at the Istana Negara to seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong It was rumoured that the leaders were there to brief the Agong about the formation of a new coalition government and to declare their support for a new prime minister, effectively blocking PKR's president Anwar Ibrahim from the position. Once the meeting had concluded, several opposition party leaders, including UMNO's Ismail Sabri Yaakob and PAS's Hadi Awang then joined Azmin's supporters at Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya. The purpose of the gathering was later revealed to be a dinner event called "Majlis Makan Malam Muafakat Ahli Parlimen" celebrating the achievement of a "consensus" among MPs, of which 131 were in attendance, from both the government and opposition. This sparked controversy as people began to wonder of the purpose and meaning of the event, causing a split in the Pakatan Harapan coalition. The events that day were dubbed the "Sheraton Move", and it was known as one of the longest Sundays in Malaysian politics.
It was later confirmed by former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mohd. Najib Abdul Razak, that he, as well as MPs from the UMNO, signed statutory declarations in support of the then-Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad lead an alliance called Perikatan Nasional; however, their agreement was conditional.
On the following day, Azmin Ali and PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin were sacked from the party, as announced by secretary general, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail that afternoon, as several other members of the party announced their departure from the party in solidarity with the two. Following this, Mahathir announced his resignation from his position as Prime Minister, and BERSATU President, Muhyiddin Yassin, announced that the party would officially leave the Pakatan Harapan coalition. This caused the coalition to lose its majority in the Dewan Rakyat, marking the downfall of the almost 2 year old Pakatan Harapan government.
The royal palace announced that the Agong had accepted Mahathir's resignation and appointed him as interim Prime Minister in order to oversee the country's administration until the formation of a new government.
Having other plans in mind, Mahathir decided to call for all MPs to unite under a non-partisan unity government, where all parties in parliament would take part in the government. This was rejected by almost every other party as they refused to be in the same government as their rivals, most notably Muafakat Nasional and the DAP. Muafakat Nasional called for the dissolution of the parliament and snap elections, stating that the only solution was by letting the people choose the government.
To resolve the issue, the Agong summoned every member of the Dewan Rakyat for an audience so that he may interview each of them personally so as to determine who had the support of the majority of parliament to form a new government as Prime Minister. This is because Article 43 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia states that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall need to appoint the Prime Minister from among the members of the Dewan Rakyat, who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the parliament. However, none of them gained the majority support of the parliament, that is at least 112 members, since Barisan Nasional and Gagasan Sejahtera voted for the dissolution of the parliament, while Pakatan Harapan and BERSATU named Anwar Ibrahim and Mahathir respectively.
On the afternoon of 28 February, PPBM secretary-general Datuk Marzuki Yahaya announced that all of its' 36 MPs have decided on nominating party president Muhyiddin for the position of Prime Minister instead of Mahathir. However, a number of BERSATU MPs later denied that they had nominated Muhiyiddin and were still supporting Mahathir. In the evening, both Barisan Nasional and Muafakat Nasional also announced their support for Muhiyiddin to succeed Mahathir as the next Prime Minister. This was soon followed by claims made by political analysts in Sabah and Sarawak that local parties such as GBS, GPS, and Warisan intended to support Muhiyiddin as Prime Minister, securing him a majority in parliament.
On the evening of the 29 February 2020, the Agong announced that Muhyiddin had gained majority support and was appointed as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was sworn in the following day at Istana Negara.

Formalisation

On 17 May 2020, the leaders of PPBM, Barisan Nasional, PAS, GPS, PBS, and STAR issued a joint statement saying that all their 111 MPs support formalising the Perikatan Nasional alliance which was previously an ad hoc agreement. The parties' leaders also announced that they had been working on a memorandum of understanding to facilitate cooperation within the PN alliance. Key provisions of the MOU include upholding the Malaysian Constitution, the sovereignty of the Malay Rulers, the principles of Rukun Negara, and ensuring the welfare and interest of Malaysians of all religions and race.

Individual Members of Parliament and allied parties

Leadership Structure

Perikatan Nasional Presidential Council:

Members of Parliament of the 14th Malaysian Parliament

Perikatan Nasional and its supporting parties have 113 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat as shown below.

Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly)

Malaysian State Assembly Representatives

Perikatan Nasional state governments