National Concord

National Concord
Muafakat Nasional
Malay nameMuafakat Nasional
موافقت ناسيونل‎
AbbreviationMN
PresidentAnnuar Musa
FounderAnnuar Musa
Founded14 September 2019
Dissolved15 December 2022
Preceded by• United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
• Perikatan Nasional (PN)
HeadquartersPejabat Muafakat Nasional, Menara Dato’ Onn, Putra World Trade Centre, Jalan Tun Ismail, 50480, Kuala Lumpur
Newspaper• Berita Harian
• Harian Metro
• New Straits Times
• Harakah
• Daily Express (Malaysia)
Student wingPergerakan Belia Muafakat Nasional
Youth wingPergerakan Pemuda Muafakat Nasional
Women's wingPergerakan Wanita Muafakat Nasional
Membership• 85,000 (UMNO)
• 50,000 (PAS)
• 35,000 (BERSATU)
• 4,000 (SEDAR)
Ideology• Ketuanan Melayu
• National conservatism
• Islamic conservatism
• Islamism
Political positionRight-wing to far-right
ReligionSunni Islam
Colours    Green and Red
SloganMuafakat Rakyat, Penyatuan Ummah
("National Concord, The Unification of the Ummah")

The National Concord (Malay: Muafakat Nasional; abbrev: MN) was a Malaysian political coalition that was formed between the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) against the then-ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition which had come into power after the 2018 Malaysian general election (GE14).[1][2] The political cooperation between the two largest Malay/Muslim-based parties was officialised with the signing of the Piagam Muafakat Nasional (National Cooperation Charter).[3] The five-point charter was signed by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the Himpunan Penyatuan Ummah (Ummah Unity Rally) held at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur on 14 September 2019.[4][5] Its main aim is to unite the Malay/Muslim community or Ummah for electoral purposes.[6][7]

Despite calls for Muafakat Nasional to be institutionalised and become more inclusive towards Barisan Nasional (BN) and Gagasan Sejahtera (GS) where UMNO and PAS are major component parties respectively, there has been no formal agreement with the other parties in both coalitions to migrate to Muafakat Nasional.[8][9][10] The new Muafakat Nasional coalition had planned to be formalised at its inaugural convention to be held by May 2020.[11][12] A permanent secretariat of the pact was set-up at UMNO's headquarters located at PWTC in May 2020.[13]

Muafakat Nasional had extended an invitation to the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) led by its president and then-prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin to join the alliance in July 2020.[14] On 15 August 2020, Muhyiddin reaffirmed that the party will join the alliance.[15] However, BERSATU had also formed another coalition called Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the same period.[16][17] On 3 April 2021, Wan Saiful Wan Jan the information chief of BERSATU revealed that the party had agreed to join the alliance but received no official response from either UMNO or PAS.[18]

On 30 January 2022, ahead of the 2022 Johor state election, former prime minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak disclosed that BERSATU was not included in the MN alliance as it had decided to contest against UMNO during the 2020 Sabah state election, in which BERSATU's newly formed PN coalition fielded candidates in all 17 seats.[19]

On 15 December 2022, former Minister of Communication and Multimedia Tan Sri Annuar Musa declared that Muafakat Nasional was no longer a political coalition but a non-governmental organisation.[20] He is also announced the list of the council members of the Muafakat Nasional (MN), including former Selangor UMNO chairman Noh Omar, former minister of home affairs Zuraida Kamaruddin, Federal Territory President of the Homeland Fighters' Party Khairuddin Abu Hassan, Chinese Muslim scholar Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, Chairman of the Joint Committee of MCA Kelantan Chua Hock Kuan, and former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof.

  1. ^ Hasnoor Hussain (14 September 2019). "The Umno-PAS 'new deal'". The Malaysian Insight.
  2. ^ "UMNO-PAS meterai Piagam Muafakat Nasiona". Bernama. 14 September 2019.
  3. ^ Haspaizi Zain (14 September 2019). "Umno, PAS ink charter formalising political alliance". Malaysiakini.
  4. ^ Tarrence Tan, Hanis Zainal and Fatimah Zainal (14 September 2019). "Political foes-turned-friends Umno, PAS sign historic pact". The Star.
  5. ^ Haspaizi Zain (14 September 2019). "Umno, PAS akhirnya meterai Piagam Muafakat Nasional". Malaysiakini (in Malay).
  6. ^ "Piagam muafakat Nasional Diisytiharkan". 1media.my. 14 September 2019.
  7. ^ "What's next for Piagam Muafakat Nasional?". The Malaysian Reserve. 18 September 2019.
  8. ^ Teh Athira Yusof and Teoh Pei Ying (5 December 2019). "Call for Muafakat Nasional to be institutionalised". New Straits Times.
  9. ^ Reme Ahmad (5 December 2019). "Calls in Umno for Barisan Nasional to 'migrate' to Muafakat Nasional". New Straits Times.
  10. ^ Mohsin Abdullah (19 December 2019). "Politics and Policy: Choices for MIC, MCA and Muafakat Nasional". The Edge Malaysia.
  11. ^ "Muafakat Nasional be formalised by May". New Straits Times. 7 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Umno, Pas to set-up Muafakat Nasional secretariat at PWTC". New Straits Times. 7 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Zahid, Hadi Jejak Masuk Pertama Kali Di Pejabat Muafakat Nasional". UMNO ONLINE (in Malay). 14 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Muafakat Nasional has extended official invitation to Bersatu - Annuar". Bernama. Astro Awani. 30 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Bersatu officially invited to join Muafakat Nasional". Bernama. New Straits Times. 31 July 2020.
  16. ^ Radzi Razak (14 September 2020). "RoS confirms Perikatan as registered entity, says approved on Aug 7". Malay Mail. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  17. ^ Sebastian Strangio (8 July 2021). "UMNO Withdraws its support". The Diplomat. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Kita setuju jemputan masuk MN, tapi tidak ada respons". Utusan Malaysia (in Malay). 3 April 2021.
  19. ^ "'Bersatu not part of Muafakat as it betrayed Umno during Sabah polls'". The Vibes. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  20. ^ "[VIDEO] Muafakat Nasional bukan gerakan politik, kata Annuar Musa - Agenda Daily". www.agendadaily.com. Retrieved 15 December 2022.