Malaysia cancelled the registration of the country’s main opposition coalition, Perikatan Nasional (PN), on Tuesday amid a dispute between its key parties, dealing a blow to the alliance ahead of elections expected in the coming months.
Malaysia’s Malacca state is due to hold an election on November 14, in the latest test for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim following defeats in two other regional polls earlier this year. An early general election could also be triggered by simmering tensions within Anwar’s multi-party ruling coalition.
However, opposition coalition PN is facing growing divisions of its own between the conservative Islamist party PAS, which has the most seats of any single party in Malaysia’s 222-member parliament, and the Malay nationalist party Bersatu, with both vying for leadership of the alliance.
Bersatu, led by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, filed a complaint with the Registrar of Societies, alleging that it had been excluded from a PN supreme council meeting in July. The party described the exclusion as a breach of the coalition’s constitution by rival party PAS.
The Registrar of Societies said in a statement on Tuesday that it had received an unsatisfactory response from PN after warning last month that the coalition could face deregistration.
It said “the reasons given failed to refute the grounds for the cancellation of registration”.
The cancellation means PN’s constituent parties, including several smaller organisations besides Bersatu and PAS, would be unable to contest elections under a common banner unless the registration issue is resolved.
PN secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, who is also a PAS leader, said the coalition would challenge the deregistration order in court.
“PN condemns this action as an attempt to... weaken political opponents ahead of the Malacca election,” Takiyuddin said in a statement.
Prime Minister Anwar leads a government comprising several political blocs, including his own Pakatan Harapan coalition and Barisan Nasional, led by the once-dominant United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party of jailed former prime minister Najib Razak.
Despite their partnership at the federal level, Pakatan and Barisan remain rivals in some states, with the parties exploring different electoral strategies ahead of the next general election.
Barisan and the Islamist party PAS have said they are discussing cooperation in the Malacca election, an arrangement that could test the prospects of a broader electoral alliance, according to local media reports.
