PAS and its Perikatan Nasional (PN) ally, Bersatu, are apparently in the midst of their most severe political stand-off yet although neither has officially declared a permanent break-up.
The alliance is currently under unprecedented strain with PAS publicly reviewing its cooperation with Bersatu and hinting at the possibility of contesting future elections alone.
For starters, Bersatu has been rocked by internal purges and power struggles which PAS views as destabilising and disruptive to their joint election machinery, particularly in the run-up to the Johor and Melaka state polls prior to the 16th General Election (GE16).
The uneasiness with each other escalated to the extent that PAS president Tan Sri Hadi Awang has cited “unpleasant” actions by Bersatu in the form of state-level interference in Kedah and Kelantan as well as the ousting of former PAS-appointed menteri besar (MB) Mohd Shukri Ramli.
Moreover, the Islamist party has staked claim that it does most of the “groundwork” during elections, hence is frustrated that Bersatu demands a large number of seats despite lacking strong grassroots machinery.
‘PAS won’t bow to Bersatu’
The clearest sign of an irreconcilable crack has unfolded over the weekend with Hadi claiming that PAS is re-assessing its alliance with Bersatu, including the possibility of contesting the next general election without the Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin-led Bersatu.
Speaking at a media conference at his home in Marang, Terengganu on Friday (May 22), the cleric who has been helming the Islamist party since June 2002 following the sudden death of his predecessor Datuk Fadzil Noor said the decision was in response to a series of actions by Bersatu that his party found unsatisfactory.
These actions included Bersatu state assemblymen in Negeri Sembilan backing down after initially agreeing to align with UMNO to form a new state government.
Hadi also said PAS was not pleased with developments in Perlis where control of the state administration shifted to Bersatu as well as alleged interference in the appointment of executive councillors in Kedah and the deputy speaker in Kelantan.
Above all else, Bersatu was also blocking efforts to bring Malay-Muslim parties into PN.
This was when Bernama ran a stinging headline “PAS will not bow to Bersatu, ready to reassess ties” citing the eight-term Marang MP with a statement that PAS will determine its own political direction.
Stressing that the party would thoroughly examine every negative action taken by Bersatu, Hadi did not rule out the possibility of moving forward without Bersatu ahead of the 16th General Election (GE16) should both parties fail to reach a consensus in their political cooperation.
The crux of the matter is such that the ties between both parties “are currently being tested with PAS remaining patient but patience has its limits”.
To contain a war of words from erupting between leaders and the grassroots of both parties, PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan has issued a gag order while calling for calm on the same day Hadi’s statement went viral.
Point of no return?
Further compounding the crisis point which political observers contended as “favouring the ruling Madani administration in wooing Malay Muslim fence-sitters”, is a lengthy point -by-point rebuke of Hadi’s claim by Bersatu’s Political Bureau yesterday (May 24).
As expected, the statement will be interpreted by PAS diehards as “throwing all the burden of mistakes and confusion 100% on PAS’s face”.
“Bersatu is portrayed as if it were a pure party, principled and with integrity. It has no flaws at all. Bersatu is a perfect party led by infallible people. PERGH!!,” fumed PAS loyalist blogger Hanisya Abd Hamid in a Facebook post.
On the other hand, Bersatu’s associate wing head Sri Sanjeevan Ramakrishnan slammed PAS for betraying the Opposition’s quest to topple the ruling Madani government.
“Malaysian politics has taught us one important thing: no party can stand tall forever without a partner in the struggle,” lectured the Bersatu supreme council member on his FB page.
PAS’ own history proves it. PAS has worked with various political coalitions throughout the country’s history.
PAS was with Barisan Nasional in the 1970s before that relationship ended. PAS built the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU), then Barisan Alternatif (BA), after that joined the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), then Muafakat Nasional and today being part of PN.
History has also shown that PAS eventually found its way to the Federal government through the changing political landscape in 2020 when the PN government was formed with TS Muhyiddin Yassin appointed as Malaysia’s eighth premier.
PAS then held important positions in the Federal administration … Don’t be too eager to chase after something that is uncertain for at the end, what is already in your hand will slip out of your grasp. – Focus Malaysia
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