PETALING JAYA: It is time for Barisan Nasional to dissolve, now that its Sarawak component parties have left the coalition, said Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz (pic).

The Padang Rengas MP told The Sun Daily that Barisan was "as good as gone" and said bold changes were needed.

"It might be a good thing to dissolve BN now and have Umno go it alone in peninsular Malaysia," Nazri said.

He said there is no coming back for Barisan, especially after MCA, MIC and Gerakan were defeated on May 9.

"BN is no longer strong like it used to be, and in times like this, we must bravely make changes or take drastic steps, similar to what the late former premier Tun Abdul Razak Hussein did after the 1969 general election," Nazri said.

He said that when the Alliance Party lost the popular vote, Abdul Razak was spurred into action and formed Barisan by joining forces with Gerakan and the People's Progressive Party.

On Tuesday (June 12), Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) announced that they were pulling out from the former ruling coalition to form a new state-based pact.

BN entered the fray for the last general elections with 13 parties, but is now left with only four (and a half) parties.



The remaining BN members are Umno, MCA, MIC and Gerakan, while MyPPP seems to be half-in, half-out.



BN was founded in 1973, after the 1969 general elections saw the then Alliance (of Umno, MCA and MIC) suffering many defeats to the Opposition, which then included DAP, Gerakan, (then) PPP and PAS. Shortly after those elections, the May 13 racial riots occurred.



The then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein had the idea to bring national unity and stability by having Opposition parties such as Gerakan, PAS and PPP (now called MyPPP) join a grand coalition - Barisan Nasional.



But 45 years later, BN led by Razak's son, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, suffered its worst defeat ever.



Within a week after the elections, four parties in Sabah - Upko, LDP, PBS and PBRS - announced they were leaving BN.



The BN brand had become so unpopular that at one point, it was announced that Sabah Umno leaders such as Tan Sri Musa Aman were expected to leave and join PBS. Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan announced that PBS and Sabah STAR would form a new Sabah coalition, Gagasan Bersatu, to hold on to the Sabah state government.

As for MyPPP, a power struggle has been ongoing with its president M Kayveas announcing on May 19 that the party was exiting BN. However, the other supreme council members have disputed this, leaving MyPPP's status within BN in doubt.