KUALA LUMPUR – Top PN leaders meeting at Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s home on Monday night were said to have backed a plan to strengthen the coalition through a Presidential and Executive Council, effectively sidelining the chairman’s role.
According to a source, the basic principle was reached during a meeting between the Bersatu president and the presidents of the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP), P Punithan, and Gerakan, Dominic Lau.
The source from Bersatu added that consensus was achieved for each component party to submit draft amendments to the PN Constitution.
The drafts will be coordinated before being brought to each party and subsequently to the PN Supreme Council (MT) meeting, the source said.
“The decision was reached during discussions on the direction and how to strengthen PN, which took place at Muhyiddin’s residence on Jan 29.
Strengthening through the empowerment of the Presidential Council and the formation of the Executive Council requires amendments to the PN Constitution. These amendments indirectly abolish the chairman’s post,” the source was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.
When contacted, Lau confirmed the matter and added that all three parties – Gerakan, MIPP and Bersatu – also agreed to form a committee represented by the secretary-general of each component party to deliberate on the constitutional amendments.
“All proposals are still at the discussion stage and any differences of opinion can be resolved when we sit together.
We are discussing ways to strengthen PN and unity among the four component parties, given that the general election is not far off,” he said.
On the abolition of the PN chairman’s post, Lau said the matter was not final and still required further discussion.
On Jan 29, PN coalition leaders gathered at Muhyiddin’s residence for a “pre-council” meeting following the cancellation of a special PN Supreme Council meeting called by PN deputy secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan.
Besides Punithan and Lau, those present included MIPP deputy president S Subramaniam, Bersatu vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, and Gerakan information chief Wendy Subramaniam.
No PAS leaders attended. According to Syahir Sulaiman, political secretary to PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, Hadi was unable to attend due to a last-minute schedule change but conveyed his views through a letter.
Meanwhile, a source said the outcome of the discussions would be conveyed to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.
“So, we will wait and see what his response will be,” the source added.
Separately, Bersatu information chief Datuk Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz said the agreement reached between Muhyiddin and Hadi regarding the Presidential Council and Executive Council was merely an “initial proposal” and not a final decision.
He stressed that it would only become official after being discussed at the committee level, reviewed in the party presidents’ pre-council, and approved by the PN Supreme Council meeting.
“The statement that PN’s restructuring will abolish the chairman’s post is an analysis of structural implications, not an announcement of a decision. (However) In the context of forming the Presidential Council and Executive Council, the position of PN chairman logically becomes irrelevant,” he said in a Facebook post. — February 1, 2026