At annual convention, Muhyiddin asks Perikatan reps to draw up GE16 blueprint to take back Putrajaya

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — In a bid to win the 16th general election, Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin called for the coalition’s MPs and assemblymen to collectively come up with a plan to court more support from Malaysians.

With its existing support as the foundation, the former prime minister said he is optimistic that PN can be the “It” party in the future, which could see them take over Putrajaya in three years when the next national polls are due.

“PN is just over four years old, but it has received a huge amount of support from the rakyat by winning 74 parliamentary seats and 210 state seats and administrating four states currently.

“However, we can’t be comfortable with this amount of support. Our responsibility as MPs and assemblymen is to increase the wave of support from the rakyat for PN until we win in GE16 and form the federal government.

“Therefore, it is ideal that during this convention, we discuss the steps that must be taken by PN to ensure that our coalition continues to receive the support of the people and that PN becomes the future coalition for Malaysians,” he said during his opening speech at the PN MPs and Assemblymen Convention 2024.

Muhyiddin went on to claim that the rakyat no longer trust the “Madanon” government, a wordplay of the word “Madani”.

“The rakyat will start to realise the lies of this government. What was said by Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional during the election campaign does not match what they have done after assuming office,” he said.

Muhyiddin then described the situation where the rakyat is trusting the Opposition more than the government as “incredible”.

“They are intelligent enough to judge who is right and who is wrong. They can also judge who is principled and who is a cheat,” he added.

PN, formed in the wake of the 2020 Malaysian political crisis to replace the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government by lynchpins PAS and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, saw the fledgling coalition win 74 federal seats — an increase of 41 seats from the previous general election held in 2018.

Islamist party PAS was the biggest gainer as it made a clean sweep in both Kelantan and Terengganu; while further increasing its seats in Perlis, Perak and Pahang and Kedah to a total of 43 (up 25 seats from the previous vote).

So much so that the so-called “green wave” of support for religious conservatism has now allowed PAS to become the single, most-represented Opposition party in Parliament, taking on the mantle once worn by Umno.