KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia's Perikatan Nasional (PN) has agreed to form a presidential council comprising party leaders under the coalition government, said its secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin.

"The Perikatan Nasional supreme council held a meeting on Dec 1 and discussed preparation for the parties to face the coming general election.

"The council agreed to the proposal for a presidential council which will comprise all leaders of parties under the Perikatan Nasional government as a platform to discuss government policies and strengthen ties between the parties," he said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 2).

Apart from this, Datuk Seri Hamzah said that PN had decided to immediately implement its flagship programme nationwide to assist the people.

The PN meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

Other leaders who attended the meeting were Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president Jeffrey Kitingan, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee, Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu and other supreme council members.

PN has been governing Malaysia since March with a razor-thin majority in the Lower House of Parliament.

It came to power when some 40 MPs defected from the then Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, causing it to collapse and forcing the resignation of premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin emerged as Malaysia's eighth prime minister, bringing with him most of the MPs from his Bersatu party.

He received the backing of 11 MPs who left Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) led by its then deputy president Azmin Ali, Umno, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), the GPS coalition and several other smaller parties.