Annuar Musa: As BN component, MIC cannot join other political coalitions

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 ― Component parties under Barisan Nasional (BN) cannot join other political coalitions on its own, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said today following MIC’s confirmation that it has pulled out of Perikatan Nasional (PN).

Annuar, who is also the BN secretary-general, posted on Twitter that there had been a “miscommunication” with regards to BN supporting the loose Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition rather than joining it outright.

“The MIC's action in writing a letter to the Registrar of Societies (RoS), is in line with the decision reached in the BN Supreme Council meeting, that there has been some ‘miscommunication” regarding the PN sponsorship, and agreed that it will be corrected based on the MIC’s central working committee (CWC) decision.

“The BN component parties alone will not be members of any other party, other than BN. Umno, MCA, MIC in the peninsular supports the consensus through MN (Umno, PAS, Bersatu), while Umno Sabah and PBRS as BN members are given autonomy to be in consensus with other parties in Sabah,’’ said Annuar Musa.

MIC president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran had confirmed earlier today that the party would rescind its CWC to join PN, following Umno and BN’s decision not to enter the coalition.

Malay Mail had also sighted a letter by MIC's secretary-general, Datuk M. Asojan, to the Registrar of Societies (RoS), in which he explained that his party's central working committee's decision now cannot be used, owing to the decision change by Umno.

In May, two coalitions and four parties agreed to officially be part of PN, formerly an ad hoc arrangement to form a federal government.

The decision was announced in a joint statement by coalitions BN and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, PAS, Parti Bersatu Sabah and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR).

BN is formed of Umno, MCA, MIC and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah, while GPS includes Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party.

However last month, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that Umno had decided to not be a component party of Perikatan Nasional if the coalition is formally registered, but said it would instead focus on developing the Muafakat Nasional partnership with PAS and other BN parties.

This morning, Malay Mail reported sources saying that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was set to announce Perikatan Nasional (PN) as an official entity next week on Merdeka Day, with Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali set to be named as its information chief.