KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has asserted that new Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration is a Perikatan Nasional (PN) government. 

He insisted on this as the majority of the MPs supporting Ismail Sabri come from PN, who have 50 MPs, and not Barisan Nasional, who have 41. 

"To us, this is a PN government. Our friends on the other side (BN) have 41.

"We believe we represent a PN government,” he told Free Malaysia Today after a meeting of the PN coalition partners, chaired by former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

This comes after two Umno leaders, namely Umno secretary-general and Pontian MP Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan and Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, opposed the usage of "PN Government”, as BN is not part of the PN coalition. 

Faizal also told Free Malaysia Today that Cabinet appointments were not discussed during the meeting held at Bersatu headquarters in Publika, adding that the coalition had agreed to leave it to Muhyiddin to discuss the matter with Ismail Sabri. 

"The PN chairman (Muhyiddin) will discuss it with the prime minister and I believe the prime minister will make the right choice,” he said. 

Aside from top PN leaders, others at the meeting included PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, STAR secretary general Guan Dee Koh Hoi, PN Youth chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin, Bersatu Women chief Datuk Seri Rina Harun and PN info chief Muhammad Hilman Idham. 

Ismail Sabri, one of Umno’s three vice-presidents, was sworn in as Malaysia’s ninth prime minister yesterday, to lead Umno back into the driving seat of the country after his party helped engineer the fall of a government forged from a crisis just 18 months ago.

Muhyiddin said the support of his coalition’s 54 MPs came with the condition that Ismail Sabri cannot appoint any ministers who have criminal charges pending.