KUALA LUMPUR: The basis for the formation of Muafakat Nasional (MN) should be seen in the current framework and not before the formation of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

PAS Deputy President Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said MN was founded when PAS and UMNO were the opposition during the various issues involving the interests of Muslims and Malays.

"This has resulted in close cooperation with a political understanding in the 10 by-elections (PRK) aimed at not having three-cornered contests resulting in PAS or UMNO losses.

"In the formation of MN, it is clear that PAS and UMNO are the core, but we are ready to accept any political party or NGO that wants to be together in an effort to strengthen the unity of the ummah.
"Everything happened before the fall of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

"However, due to the efforts of all parties and the agreement of PAS, UMNO, PBBM and part of PKR, the PN government was formed," he said in a statement on his Facebook account, on Friday.

He said this when many people called for MN to be strengthened between the two parties after UMNO rejected cooperation with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in the 15th General Election (GE15).

Commenting further, the Minister of Environment and Water also said that in a series of meetings, MN was ready to accept Bersatu as a partner in the coalition.

“Both presidents have sent letters inviting Bersatu to join the coalition and Bersatu has expressed agreement in that direction, unfortunately the letter of agreement has not been accepted until now.

"This happened because UMNO was disappointed when PN was registered as a coalition of parties and it is seen as important for the PN government because there are parties that support the government.

"UMNO decided to remain in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and even the attempt to register MN failed because its name had been registered by someone else," he explained.

Tuan Ibrahim added that UMNO had decided to use the BN symbol much earlier in the next GE, while PAS was still studying the suitability of the logo and would make a decision after receiving guidance from the Syura Council.

"If we all agree to form the PN government and we succeeded in overthrowing PH and we didn't care about the seats that jumped at that time, we are happy with this consensus and the people are also happy with what we have done.

"Why should this cooperation be separated? Why do we now lose consideration by forgetting the basis of the formation of MN when we were the opposition and not appreciating the current situation that we can form a government together," he asked.

Earlier, the 2020 UMNO General Assembly (PAU 2020) approved a motion that there should be no cooperation with Bersatu in GE-15 and that togetherness in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government would continue until the dissolution of Parliament.