Has Barisan Nasional always been held together by power?

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Barisan Nasional's Cohesion Has Primarily Been Driven by Power Dynamics

The rapid disintegration of Barisan Nasional (BN) in 2018 strongly suggests that the coalition was predominantly held together by the pursuit and maintenance of power, rather than shared ideology or long-term principles. This was evident when constituent parties, such as Sarawak BN which became Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), left the coalition within two months of the general election that removed them from power. Further evidence emerged in 2020 and again during the 2022 general election, where BN components demonstrated a tendency to splinter easily when faced with electoral challenges, reinforcing the notion that their alliances were transactional and interest-based rather than ideologically driven.
Formation Driven by a Desire to Consolidate Power

The expansion of the Alliance into Barisan Nasional in 1972, under the leadership of Razak Hussein, aimed to create a single government encompassing all interests and to curtail partisan politics. This move, however, can also be viewed as a strategic consolidation of power by integrating various parties under one umbrella to ensure stability and dominance. While the intention was to foster unity, the structure ultimately became a mechanism for managing diverse interests, with power serving as the central binding agent.
Post-GE14 Collapse and Reassembly Highlighted Power's Role

Following the significant defeat in the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018, Barisan Nasional, which had comprised 14 parties at the time, experienced a swift collapse. This rapid fragmentation underscored the fragility of the coalition when its primary source of unity—political power—was lost. Although BN managed to reassemble in 2020 after the "Sheraton Move," its subsequent performance in GE15, where its component parties once again showed a propensity to split and contest separately, served as a clear indicator that the bonds within the coalition were primarily transactional, revolving around shared interests and the potential for power, rather than a deep-seated ideological alignment.
Identity Politics as a Weak Foundation for Long-Term Unity

The repeated instances of BN's internal divisions point to the limitations of an identity-first political approach. When political friendships are forged primarily on the basis of shared identity or immediate political interests, rather than a common ideology or vision for the nation, the coalition becomes inherently unstable. This was demonstrably the case with BN, where the ease with which its parties separated during electoral contests revealed that their alliances were more about securing power and influence for their respective groups rather than a commitment to a collective political platform.

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Has Barisan Nasional always been held together by power?

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