KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the interests of Malays were never compromised in the cooperation agreement among political parties forming the unity government.
“When the agreement was signed by the various (political) parties, the matter was never compromised and was even deemed as the first foundation of the agreement not only for now, but for the long term,” he said in a live broadcast interview programme on NRChannel TV on Tuesday night (Dec 27).
These interests include Islam, Malay special rights, the status of Bahasa Melayu as the national language and the sovereignty of the royal institution.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, said these elements were the prime concern of the coalition when negotiations were held with Pakatan Harapan (PH).
He added that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had agreed to identify similarities in the manifestos of all parties in the unity government so that their cooperation would benefit the people.
On Dec 16, the leaders of five political coalitions and parties in Mr Anwar’s government signed an MOU to support his administration.
The MOU was jointly signed by Mr Anwar who is also the PH chairman, Ahmad Zahid, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Abang Johari Openg, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman Hajiji Noor and Parti Warisan (Warisan) president Shafie Apdal.
It was also signed by the secretaries-general of the respective parties.
The MOU, among other things, stated that all parties in the respective coalitions should vote to support the prime minister in all matters related to confidence and supply, and matters that can affect the legitimacy of the government.
