KOTA BARU: Bersatu remains a component party of Perikatan Nasional and retains the right to be invited to coalition meetings, Pas deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said.
He said Bersatu was previously invited to meetings, but this ceased after the party lodged a complaint with the Registrar of Societies (RoS).
"Bersatu is still a PN member, so as a member, it has rights. We actually invited them previously, but stopped because of their complaint to the RoS.
"When there is a complaint, we are in a dilemma. If the complaint holds, any meeting would be invalid, and if we invite them, we would also be affected.
"To prevent this, we wrote to the Bersatu secretary-general seeking clarification on their status, as they claimed the meeting lacked a quorum, but the letter was never answered," he told a press conference here today.
Yesterday, PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan reportedly said PN intends to invite Bersatu to attend coalition meetings in the near future, following a High Court decision granting a stay on the RoS action against PN pending judicial review.
Takiyuddin said PN will hold a meeting soon following the court ruling.
The dispute arose after the party led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin lodged a complaint with the RoS, alleging it was excluded from a PN Supreme Council meeting on July 16 and questioning its membership status.
The RoS confirmed receiving the complaint on Aug 11 before issuing a show-cause notice to PN on Sept 22, asking the coalition to explain why its registration should not be revoked.
A day later, the RoS suspended PN's activities under Subsection 13(2A) of the Societies Act 1966 before deregistering the coalition on Oct 20 under Subparagraph 13(1)(c)(iv) of the same act.
Tuan Ibrahim explained that as a precaution, it was best not to invite Bersatu, while maintaining that the party remains part of PN.
He added that Bersatu had indicated a desire to part ways based on several announcements ahead of the Melaka election.
"Bersatu declared that in the Melaka election, it wants to contest independently, use its own logo, and even form a new alliance as it did in Negri Sembilan.
"So we interpret these statements as an indication that they no longer wish to remain with PN," he said.
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