For a brief window yesterday, all the pieces seemed to be falling into place for a Muafakat Nasional (MN) revival and for PAS and Umno to join forces again.
Umno leaders were still outraged at DAP for celebrating Najib Abdul Razak being kept in prison, with Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh baying for the party to quit the Madani pact and revive MN.
Tensions were boiling over in Perikatan Nasional after a power tussle over the smallest state in the country, Perlis, led to PAS feeling betrayed by Bersatu.
Bersatu ousting PAS from the menteri besar's office led PAS leaders to push for going solo, with some also calling for the party to consider reviving MN.
This morning, however, all that changed.
With one WhatsApp message, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin appeased PAS, gave PN a lifeline, and spited Umno.
"Salam, for everyone's attention, I have decided to resign as PN chairperson effective Jan 1, 2026. An official announcement will follow soon. I thank all in the PN leadership who have given me their support," he said in the message sent to a PN MPs WhatsApp group, according to sources.
PAS leaders who were stoking the flames immediately turned down the temperature in response to Muhyiddin’s announcement.
Yesterday, PAS' Arau MP Shahidan Kassim - who is also the Perlis PN chief - said MN was the solution to the party's problems.
Today, he apologised to Muhyiddin and paid tribute to the latter's leadership, saying it was pivotal to PN's massive gains in the last general election.
"We apologise for any offence," he said.
Likewise, PAS Youth chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden also apologised to the outgoing PN chairperson.
"I apologise if anything I said caused you unease or to feel slighted. It is not personal at all, except to voice out firmly for the sake of all of us on the same ship," he said.
PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said the party will now keep the peace in Perlis, and support the new government led by Bersatu, but will not hold any exco positions.
‘No need for MN’
With Muhyiddin's exit, the door is open for PAS to fulfil its ambition of leading the coalition.
If PAS takes over PN, then it has no need for Umno or MN.
International Islamic University Malaysia political science associate professor Syaza Shukri concurred, saying that the MN talk was likely a strategic move for PAS.
"With Muhyiddin out as PN's chair, PAS can take the helm of PN, and with that, there is no reason for it to join with Umno in MN.
"I think what is more plausible is that PAS will use all this talk about MN as leverage against Bersatu in PN," she told Malaysiakini.
PAS is already the major power source for PN. Of the 74 seats the coalition won in the 2022 general election, PAS won 43 and Bersatu, 31. Seven of the Bersatu seats are in PAS strongholds, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Takiyuddin and PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari have both signalled that PAS intends to lead PN.
Fadhli floated the idea that the new PN chairperson may be another PAS leader and not party president Abdul Hadi Awang.
PAS had previously mooted Terengganu Menteri Besar Samsuri Mokhtar as a potential prime minister candidate, and being PN chief would place him in a position to make a bid for Putrajaya.
‘PAS doesn’t even need to exit PN’
Some Bersatu leaders aligned with Muhyiddin may try to make things difficult for PAS to take over the PN leadership.
However, this would be to their disadvantage.
Syaza said simply that PAS doesn't need Bersatu as much as Bersatu needs PAS.
"PAS doesn’t even need to exit PN. They can just disengage, and that would cause trouble for Bersatu already.
"PAS can play up the narrative that Bersatu is power-hungry while they work for the people," she said.
However, she said it is not impossible that PAS and Bersatu come to an agreement that Bersatu places a leader acceptable to PAS at the helm of PN, while PAS dictates the coalition's political direction.
PAS has previously been alleged to back efforts to put Hamzah Zainudin as Bersatu president to replace Muhyiddin. The party leadership has denied such claims. - Mkini
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