PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said Bersatu automatically lost its membership in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition after announcing plans to form a new alliance with IPR, Putra, and URIMAI following July’s Negeri Sembilan state election. He said no official notification to Bersatu was needed for the termination. "He (Bersatu president) has already made a statement wanting to form another alliance... automatically the party is out," Hadi said on August 7, adding their membership had “automatically ceased” [1, 2, 3].
Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali rejected Hadi’s claim the same day, saying Bersatu remains a "legitimate member" of PN. Azmin said the PN constitution contains no clause for automatic revocation of membership and only the PN presidential council can decide on membership status under Clause 7A— a meeting which has yet to be convened. He accused Hadi of reckless statements that show ignorance of party rules. "The Pas president has no right or veto power to determine Bersatu's position in PN," Azmin said [1, 4, 5, 2].
Tensions between the parties rose after Bersatu was excluded from a PN Supreme Council meeting on July 16, where seat allocations and cooperation with Barisan Nasional for the Negeri Sembilan election were discussed. Azmin said this exclusion was a breach of PN’s constitution and announced Bersatu would file an official complaint to the Registrar of Societies regarding the matter [5].
Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the new coalition plan shortly after the state election, which triggered PAS’s automatic membership claim [1, 5, 3]. Abdul Hadi maintained PN does not need to issue formal notification to end membership, asserting Bersatu’s departure was automatic upon announcing the new coalition [1, 2, 3].
The membership dispute centers on conflicting interpretations of the PN constitution and the authority of the PN presidential council. The council has not yet met to address Bersatu’s status since the July 16 meeting that excluded it.
The next step in the dispute is expected when the PN presidential council convenes to consider Bersatu’s membership and respond to Bersatu’s complaint filed with the Registrar of Societies.
