Mahdzir: Muafakat Nasional Plus stalled when Perikatan Nasional was established

KOTA TINGGI: The proposal to establish Muafakat Nasional Plus, involving a combination of Umno, Bersatu and PAS, stalled when Perikatan Nasional was established, says Umno vice-president, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (pic).

He said at that time there was indeed a proposal to establish Muafakat Plus and Bersatu, but after Perikatan was registered, it was shelved.

He was commenting on the statement of Perikatan chairman, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Bersatu president, on Saturday (July 30), that a combination of the three largest Malay parties - Bersatu, PAS and Umno - would be able to comfortably win the general election if Muafakat Plus became a reality.

"Regarding Muafakat (Plus), it is his (Muhyiddin's) personal opinion, but that matter is over and more than a year has passed... my personal view is that Barisan Nasional in the 15th General Election (GE15) is (contesting) on a solo basis. However, it is up to the party to make a decision.

Meanwhile, Mahdzir, who is also the Minister of Rural Development, said that the Dewan Rakyat’s approval of the amendment of the Federal Constitution to create a provision prohibiting members of the Dewan Rakyat from changing parties on Thursday (July 28), and the amendments of the Federal Constitution related to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) last year, was a success for Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said members of Parliament were seen to support the Prime Minister regardless of political party.

"He has two successes, firstly the amendments of the Federal Constitution relating to MA63, which received two-thirds support.

"There is also support from the opposition... more than 148 MPs (being in favour).

"Once again the Prime Minister received (the support of) 209 MPs, which is more than a two-thirds majority (on the anti-hopping bill); this is a success for him," he said. - Bernama