KUALA LUMPUR — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's political party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), has been temporarily disbanded, a move which could adversely affect the opposition Pakatan Harapan’s chances in the upcoming general election.

Malaysia's Registrar of Societies (RoS) director-general Surayati Ibrahim announced the disbandment on Thursday (April 5), saying that the party had failed to submit required documents and information to RoS.

The move was roundly criticised by opposition members, particularly as it came just hours before a court was scheduled to hear a related case regarding Pakatan Harapan (PH)’s registration as an opposition pact.

“The deregistration order is an abuse of power by a regime that is desperate to stay in office. Umno is clearly scared and they are doing everything they can to stop the rise of PPBM,” said Wan Saiful Wan Jan, a PPBM Supreme Council Member.

“We will continue to fight this abusive regime. This action provides an even stronger evidence that they must be removed if we want bring back integrity into our institutions.”

ROS Director General Surayati Ibrahim. Photo: NST

With the temporary disbandment order, Ms Surayati explained that PPBM cannot conduct any activities, nor use its logo and name, within a 30-day period, effective from Thursday.

Prime Minister Najib Razak is widely expected to announce the dissolution of Parliament on Friday, paving the way for elections to be held in the first half of May before Ramadan.

Asked what would happen were the party to continue to hold activities or use its logo and name, Ms Surayati said that that would be in violation of the law — but declined to elaborate further, including on the types of actions that could be taken against the party.

She said PPBM now has 30 days to appeal and submit all the documents and information required by the RoS.

"Under Section 14(6) of the Societies Act 1966, if PPBM manages to hand over all the required documents and information within the said period, the RoS can cancel the temporary disband order," Ms Surayati added.

Otherwise, under Section 14(7) of the Societies Act 1966, PPBM's registration could have its registration cancelled.

Speaking hours after the RoS announcement, Dr Mahathir expressed his disappointment over the temporary dissolution of PPBM and said the decision reflected the unfair electoral practices in the country.

“There are no fair elections… forget about ‘bersih’,” Dr Mahathir, using the Malay word for “clean”.

He had earlier in the day said that PH had made contingency plans in view of the problems it was facing, including having all its candidates campaign under one logo which will be unveiled on Friday.

“We have said before that we will use one logo. We are one, we are Pakatan Harapan. Nothing is going to break us,” the pact’s prime ministerial candidate said after a PH presidential council meeting.

PH is made up of PPBM, Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Amanah. PPBM’s positioning as a defender of Islam and the rights of bumiputras, or indigenous Malaysians, was seen as a tactic to erode the support base of Umno but this strategy would now have to be revised if PPBM is not allowed to contest the election.

Analysts have said that Dr Mahathir would likely contest under the banner of PKR under such a scenario.

“It's a significant blow to PH chances, as the brand of Bersatu would've played a big part in drawing from UMNO support. Bersatu candidates may not do as well under the PKR banner,” Mr Rashaad Ali, a research analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told TODAY.

He added that the timing of the RoS’ decision “is hardly surprising considering how inconvenient it is for the opposition.”

Dr Wong Chin Huat, head of the political and social analysis section at the opposition-linked Penang Institute, however said that it might not be bad for the opposition to have PPBM candidates running under PKR led by Anwar Ibrahim.

“What better indicator the once 'political father-and-son' dream team is back? The last time Mahathir and Anwar co-led a coalition in election, in 1995, their coalition was largely supported overwhelmingly by both Malays and Non-Malays and won 65 per cent of votes,” he told TODAY.

He added that the RoS’ move could backfire on the Najib administration.

“It might just counterproductively amplify the Malay Tsunami (against Umno). Malay politics places high value on machismo, valuing courage and detesting cowardice. Najib will be seen as the coward who hits below the belt on a mahaguru.”

PH secretary-general Saifuddin Abdullah told reporters outside the High Court that it did not expect the RoS to “blatantly deregister” PPBM two hours before a substantive hearing in court.

“This is an attempt to obstruct PH from giving their full strength during the coming election and it is not surprising to us.”

He said PH’s presidential council had anticipated all possibilities and had decided that the seat allocations agreed previously among its four parties will remain unchanged.

“This means we will still be contesting 52 parliament seats in the Peninsular,” he said.

DAP Member of Parliament Gobind Singh Deo, a lawyer, claimed that the temporary suspension a mere two hours before a court hearing on a related matter is tantamount to contempt of court.

“But before the court could make a decision on the matter today, a decision was made by RoS that directly impacted the case,” he said.

Mr Gobind said the submission of a letter by RoS instructing the temporary suspension meant that PPBM cannot be considered a PH party in the ongoing case.

He requested the court to defer the hearing to a later date to allow the applicants to submit a new affidavit including the suspension letter for the court to review.

DAP national chairman Tan Kok Wai said that the four parties in the PH coalition will continue to work together.

“The more (ruling coalition) Barisan Nasional tries to break us up and finish us, the more united we will be.” AGENCIES