Experts: PN should move fast after deregistration to salvage Malacca polls

With the Kuala Lumpur High Court set to hear Perikatan Nasional’s legal challenge this morning, the deregistered coalition faces a race against time to salvage its electoral plans less than two weeks before the Malacca state election.

While PN can pursue further legal avenues against the Registrar of Societies’ (ROS) decision, lawyers and political analysts say its component parties should not wait for the courts to settle the matter before preparing for the Nov 14 polls.

With nomination day set for Oct 31, the immediate question is whether PAS and its partners can agree on an alternative electoral arrangement, including which party logo to use, while pursuing legal remedies that may not yield a timely reprieve.

"If they intend to file a fresh suit, and assuming the case will take time before the court reaches a decision, they cannot realistically expect the matter to be resolved before the 16th general election.

"The Malacca state election, in particular, will certainly take place before the issue can be resolved,” said veteran lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla.

"PAS, Gerakan, MIPP, Wawasan Negara and the others should announce that they will continue contesting as a coalition and clarify which logo they will use.”

Haniff said PN’s component parties should decide on an electoral arrangement and start communicating it to the public, so voters would know which logo to look out for on polling day.

He drew a parallel with Pakatan Harapan’s experience before GE14, when its component parties, including Bersatu, contested under the PKR logo because the coalition was not registered.

"Voters still voted for Harapan, allowing it to form the government in 2018," he added.

‘Seek urgent interim relief’

Former Selangor Bar chairperson Kokila Vaani Vadiveeloo said PN could challenge the ROS decision through a separate judicial review or an appeal to the home minister under the Societies Act 1966.

However, she noted that neither an appeal nor a judicial review application would automatically suspend the deregistration, making it unlikely that PN could use its own logo in the upcoming state election without further court intervention.

"Given the short timeframe, it would be difficult to conclude the full judicial review before nomination day.

"PN should instead seek urgent interim relief specifically addressing the cancellation of its registration or file a certificate of urgency. However, the court may reject the application on the grounds that there is no real urgency for the matter to be heard," she said.

Kokila added that the High Court had previously refused an interim stay despite granting PN leave to challenge the ROS’ earlier suspension order.

As for GE16, she said the legal challenge could potentially be concluded before the general polls, although the timeline remained uncertain, particularly if an appeal followed.

"In the meantime, PN should prepare an alternative electoral arrangement through its component parties, subject to the applicable requirements.

"The legal challenge and the alternative electoral arrangement should proceed in parallel, allowing PN to preserve its legal remedies without making its immediate electoral position entirely dependent on the court’s decision," she told Malaysiakini.

Move forward

International Islamic University Malaysia political scientist Syaza Shukri said it was time for PN to "move forward", arguing that fighting the deregistration and seeking to re-register the coalition would not resolve the underlying dispute over Bersatu’s position within PN.

She noted that PAS had maintained it would not work with Bersatu, meaning the coalition would still have to resolve the question of Bersatu’s membership even if its legal challenge succeeded.

"So, I feel that perhaps this is the way out for them. Yes, it might weaken them because the PN brand is well known, especially going into Malacca.

"But PN has a strong component party in PAS that can carry the coalition using its logo," she said.

In the longer term, Syaza said PN’s other component parties could consider forming a new coalition without Bersatu.

However, she suggested that a looser alliance might be more practical given the fragmentation of Malaysian politics, unless the parties could establish a watertight agreement to prevent a repeat of the dispute.

Political observer Azmi Hassan also said PAS and its allies should consider using the Islamist party’s logo in the upcoming election, although he warned that the move could carry electoral costs.

He said the PAS logo carried a stigma among non-Malay voters, which could affect the party’s partners, particularly Gerakan and MIPP.

"The stigma associated with PAS being extreme could also rub off on Wawasan. That is the downside of Wawasan using the PAS logo, or of the PAS logo being used in Malacca.

"PN is generally perceived as having a more moderate approach, even though PAS is part of the coalition," said the Nusantara Strategic Research Academy senior fellow.

PN brand

Nevertheless, Azmi said PN or PAS should challenge the ROS decision in court, arguing that the consequences of losing the PN brand could be more significant in future state elections and GE16.

"The issue might not pose a major difficulty in Malacca, but it could become a problem in other state elections, and more importantly, in the general election.

"The PAS logo carries a stigma among non-Malay voters. This could be detrimental to PAS and the other parties in PN, particularly Gerakan and MIPP," he said.

On Tuesday, the ROS deregistered PN after finding the coalition’s response to its show-cause order unsatisfactory.

The show-cause order followed a complaint by Bersatu, which accused PN’s leadership of denying it the right to attend, express its views and vote at the coalition’s supreme council meeting on July 16.

The deregistration came two weeks before the Malacca state election, meaning that PN won't be able to use its logo in the polls.

It also came just two days before the High Court in Kuala Lumpur was set to hear PN's application to stay the deregistration order, pending a judicial review.

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