THE people must give Perikatan Nasional (PN) its mandate in the 15th general election (GE15) if they want a stable and strong government, said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

He said PN’s ability to govern the country with excellence had been proven when Muhyiddin Yassin was prime minister.

“The people should know that PN has shown when it was in power that it successfully implemented many things.

“But because our government is not strong and because GE15 is close, we ask the people to give the PN the mandate to form a stronger government,” during the launch of Terengganu PN in Rusila Marang last night.

In his speech, he also explained how there was a conflict in the administration that eventually led to Muhyiddin’s resignation as prime minister.

Hadi said that PAS saw Muhyiddin’s decision to resign as a way to save the coalition.

“In order to save PN, Muhyiddin had to resign. It was not easy to resign as PM, but he did.

“After he resigned, we accepted a new prime minister from Umno so the government could continue,” he said.

PN was established after the Pakatan Harapan government fell and Muhyiddin was appointed as the eighth prime minister.

There are five party component parties in the coalition: PAS, Bersatu, Gerakan, Solidarity Party of Tanah Airku (STAR) and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

Muhyiddin had to resign after 15 Umno MPs withdrew their support for him.

During his 17 months in office, the PN chairman enforced the longest movement-control measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

He also implemented an emergency order that was heavily criticised as parliament was not allowed to convene.

Hadi added that even though the PN did not have a manifesto while in power, it had an agenda for the people.

“We didn’t have a manifesto, but there was a problem with the pandemic and the economy, and we were all able to deal with it well,” he said. – July 31, 2022.