DPM: Need to study pros and cons before opening up BN

Tan Sri Muhyiddin (right) refuses to comment on the possibility of welcoming Perkasa into the BN folds. - Bernama pic

By Debra Chong - The Malaysian Insider

PETALING JAYA, Feb 20 — Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today said it was time for Barisan Nasional (BN) to expand its friendship network but noted there were pros and cons to opening up the coalition that had to be carefully studied first.

“We know there are many bodies that support BN. It is time the network is expanded,” Muhyiddin said in a press conference here today.

Echoing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who last night announced the ruling coalition’s expansion plan, Muhyiddin said the BN constitution currently had no provision to formally recognise BN-friendly groups.

“We need to study the pros and cons on whether to open it up to only political bodies or to political and non-political bodies such as social and welfare groups that have supported BN; or accept applications from individuals...direct membership, into the BN,” the Umno deputy president added.

He declined to disclose his personal view when asked if the multi-ethnic coalition, which is made up of more than 10 political parties covering both the peninsula and East Malaysia, would welcome groups such as Perkasa, which many see as a radical movement in pushing for exclusive Malay rights.

“It’s a bit too early to pre-empt at this stage. I think I don’t want to jump the gun. Let it be.

“At the moment we have to study many aspects of the constitution,” Muhyiddin replied.

He added that his Umno colleague, vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has been put in charge of a special committee to study the details which would later be forwarded to the Supreme Council for fine-tuning before being presented at the BN convention at the end of the year.

The BN had lost its two-thirds iron-gripped control in Parliament at the general election two years ago to a three-party alliance headed by former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and has been trying hard to regain it through a more open and inclusive approach.