SHAH ALAM, Nov 23 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has today praised Perikatan Nasional's (PN) previous administration, describing Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's tenure as prime minister "magical”.

In a fiery opening speech at the sixth Bersatu Annual General Assembly, Ahmad Faizal claimed Muhyiddin’s leadership had ensured that the public had access to basic necessities despite the Covid-19 lockdown called movement control order (MCO).

"At that time, farmers could not work on paddy fields or palm trees, fishermen could not sell their produce. But, the rice was still there. Cooking oil was still available, chicken and fish were not cut off in supply. It was almost magical. Like magic.

"This actually happened with careful planning, decisions are taken immediately with immediate implementation to ensure that the people's necessities are not cut off in supply. The president had been working day and night to make this happen,” he told the delegates.

He then fired shots at Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's administration, mockingly calling the prime minister as also "magical” too due to the supply problems affecting several essential goods.

"This was different from what we are going through now. There's no MCO. There are paddy fields, but there is no local rice. There are thousands of hectares of palm oil plantations, but there is no cooking oil. There are livestock, but the price of chicken is soaring.

"This too, is magic!” he said.

Ahmad Faizal also said that the Muhyiddin administration was "more people-centric" than the current government.

"The PN government is not an extremist or racist government as it is being labelled. The PN government is a government based on the interests of the people or people-centric, regardless of race or religion.

"Immediately after Covid, PN has managed to put the country's economy in a strong position despite experiencing various difficulties,” he said.

The former youth and sports minister claimed that the "Taliban” and "green wave” labels — referring to the surge in Malay-Muslim conservatism championed by PN — was given in an attempt to scare off non-Malays from supporting the pact.

After four of the party MPs declared their support to Anwar, Ahmad Faizal called on party members to stay loyal to Muhyiddin.

"Obedience and loyalty to Tan Sri President must always be embedded in us,” he said, adding that supporting blindly can instead destroy a nation.

On October 12, Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid was the first to throw his backing for Anwar, followed by Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman on October 30, Gua Musang MP Mohd Azizi Abu Naim on November 7 and on November 9 Jeli MP Zahari Kechik followed suit.

As a result of their actions, Bersatu’s leadership suspended their membership for six years.

Bersatu’s annual general assembly will be held at the Ideal Convention Centre in Shah Alam starting from today to Saturday.