Former UMNO Supreme Council (MKT) member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi has called for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) underpinning the Unity Government between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) to be terminated following BN’s cooperation with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the Negeri Sembilan state election.
Puad said the success of the BN-PN partnership in Negeri Sembilan demonstrated that the political formula should be maintained for the upcoming Melaka state election and eventually the 16th General Election (GE16).
He congratulated the BN-PN alliance on its victory, expressing confidence that the same cooperation could continue delivering positive results in future elections.
According to Puad, there is no longer any justification for maintaining the Unity Government MOU if BN and PN are now working together politically at the state level.
“There is no need to keep pretending. The MOU should be brought to an end as there is no reason for it to continue,” he said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
In the Negeri Sembilan election, UMNO won all 16 seats it contested, while MCA secured two seats. Within the PN coalition, PAS won four seats and Parti Wawasan Negara (Wawasan) claimed three constituencies.
The former Johor State Assembly Speaker also pointed to differing positions taken by BN and PH on the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report involving Tabung Haji during the election campaign as evidence that the two coalitions were no longer moving in the same direction.
Puad argued that the distinction between cooperation at the federal and state levels was no longer relevant, adding that BN and PN appeared committed to pursuing a shared political direction.
He also suggested that it would be better for both coalitions to part ways amicably, claiming BN was prepared to become the opposition before the next general election if necessary.
