KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 ― PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said today Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) greatest achievement was uniting the country’s major Malay political parties, declaring it a triumph for those intent on bringing good to multiracial Malaysia.

Hadi argued that Muslim unity was the first step towards a better federal administration, one that would surpass its predecessor that was plagued by infighting.

The Marang MP said the collaboration of the three major Malay-Muslim political parties ― Umno, PAS and Bersatu ― mirrored Islam’s history, when the Prophet Muhammad united the warring Arab tribes and turned them into a major political force that became one of the world’s most powerful empires at the time.

"We took the action first by uniting PAS and Umno with the intention of effecting change, and later forged together (with Bersatu) as a government,” Hadi said before an audience of academics gathered to "rate” PN’s half-year performance.

"Yes, as a government, we cannot deny the rights of minorities since we are a multiracial society,” he added.

"(But) uniting the Muslims, I would say that is our achievement.”

Also present at the event was Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin’s party, Bersatu, now leads a predominantly Malay-Muslim coalition alongside PAS and Umno as a result of shifting political alliances that triggered the fall of the democratically-elected Pakatan Harapan government.

The political realignment not only drew allegations that Muhyiddin is now head of an illegitimate government, but has also raised concerns that minority rights could be undermined, especially as Umno and PAS seek to regain power.

But at this evening’s event, Hadi insisted that the PN government was installed constitutionally.

The PAS president said Muhyiddin commanded majority support in Parliament, which by law was enough to make him the prime minister even if the government of the day was not elected.

"The change (of government) was made through parliamentary democracy, and it was done according to the principles laid out in the Federal Constitution,” he said.

"It’s indirect democracy.”