CAN MUAFAKAT NASIONAL BE REVIVED?
Amid mounting unity concerns within the government and PN pacts, the narrative of reviving MN has gained some traction among grassroots and party leaders of both PAS and UMNO.
PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari for one called it “the key to strength and the resurgence of Muslim unity”.
“Once UMNO-(Barisan Nasional) declares that they are leaving the alliance with (Pakatan) Harapan, we can relaunch (Muafakat Nasional),” Fadhli said in a Facebook post on Dec 25 in response to a suggestion by Akmal to revive the pact.
MN was an alliance forged between UMNO and PAS in 2019 against the then-PH government led by Mahathir.
But MN collapsed when PAS and Bersatu – a splinter party of UMNO – formed PN, the current federal opposition bloc.
Ibrahim said that while reviving MN sounded great as an idea, it was difficult to be realised as both PAS and UMNO are vying for the same electorate and neither will yield when it comes to electoral seats to contest as well as potential positions in a future government.
He added that just as PAS supporters would loath to let go of seats to UMNO in the states they control such as Kelantan and Terengganu, UMNO supporters would not want to give PAS space in places like Johor or Pahang.
Hisommudin concurred and said that the fundamental problem was that both parties compete for the same electoral constituencies dominated by Malay voters at both parliamentary and state levels.
“In the last general election, many of these seats were won by PAS. Given PAS’ political culture, it is highly improbable that they would relinquish these seats to UMNO,” he said, adding that entering a pact would only constrain UMNO from challenging PAS in seats that the latter currently controls.
PAS won 43 seats in the last general election, the highest of any political party.
They were the main force behind PN’s success, which came largely at the expense of BN and UMNO.
“The collapse of Muafakat Nasional in the past demonstrated that even a partnership framed around defending Malay-Muslim interests could not withstand internal rivalries,” said Hisomudin.
Anwar was reported to have said on Jan 2 that discussions revolving around MN’s revival have yet to reach a serious level.
“So those who fantasie (about) such things or talk about leaving (the unity government), well, that’s not my problem,” he was quoted as saying by online news portal Free Malaysia Today.
Zaharuddin – the analyst – meanwhile shared an allegory and said that UMNO was not a party that would board a moving bus without knowing its destination.
“Until then, MN remains a ghost – and UMNO will not open the door (to MN) without a clear political advantage,” he said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-umno-najib-razak-pas-muafakat-nasional-5802661
