[UPDATED] No decision from ‘flexible’ PAS on Umno or Bersatu as GE15 partner

KUALA LUMPUR – PAS has not made a decision on whether to go with Umno or Bersatu for the 15th general election (GE15), and has instead called for  “flexibility” in its negotiations with both parties.

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said PAS will still continue efforts to unite the “ummah” and that all three Malay parties - PAS, Umno, and Bersatu - must be committed to ensuring political stability after the election.

“PAS sees that there is a need for flexibility in negotiations with Umno and Bersatu, including on the conditions put forward,” Hadi said in a statement following a meeting of the party’s central working committee today.

“The three core Malay parties must further ensure political stability post-GE15,” he said.

The meeting today also decided that PAS-led states – Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu – will not pursue the subject of whether to dissolve their respective legislative assemblies in the near-term.

Hadi said this was so that these states could focus on preparations for the monsoon season which is expected to last from mid-November until March next year.

PAS was expected to have made a decision today on whether to work with Umno or Bersatu and its Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, following ultimatums from Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid had said PAS must choose a side as the Islamist party has a pact called Muafakat Nasional with Umno, while also being a formal member of PN. Umno, however, has rejected working with Bersatu and PN.

Among Zahid’s conditions for Umno to accept PAS as a GE15 partner are that PAS must cut ties with Bersatu, pull out from PN, and officially declare that it would leave PN and Bersatu. – The Vibes, October 8, 2022