KUALA LUMPUR: Perikatan Nasional (PN) will be officially formed so that Members of Parliament in the government will contest under the "grand coalition", Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Supreme Leadership Council Member Datuk Seri Redzuan Yusof said.
He said this despite Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa on Sunday saying that BN and Umno have no intention of joining PN.
Redzuan said this when asked if it was necessary for Muafakat Nasional (MN), a political understanding between Umno and Pas, to exist since PN is proceeding with its plan on becoming a formal coalition.
"Yes, it (MN) is still necessary because initially the three of us (Bersatu, Pas and Umno) were going to decide whether we should form PN but we have already taken one step ahead.
"Regardless, we will form PN," he told a press conference at the Parliament building here today.
Recently, Bersatu president and Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said his party's participation in MN will be finalised soon and top Pas and Umno leaders have indicated on Sunday that they welcomed Bersatu to join MN.
When asked on some Umno leaders, including Annuar, saying the party would not be joining PN, Redzuan described the statements as their personal opinions.
"Is MN a registered coalition? No. It is just a platform for us to discuss the best way forward for PN which has yet to be formally registered.
"We are working on some strategies for the 15th General Election and our ambition is that we plan on contesting as PN, as a grand coalition," he said.
According to Redzuan, PN is in the middle of its registration process with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) but has yet to receive the go-ahead from the agency.
"The (RoS) provided some comments, for example, apparently there is a non-governmental organisation by the name Perikatan Nasional so maybe we will have to change (the name) to Parti Perikatan Nasional," he said.