FORMER Johor state assembly speaker Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi has claimed that covert discussions between UMNO and PAS on forming a political understanding for the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections contributed to a sense of overconfidence among Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders.
Puad alleged that such closed-door negotiations among Malay nationalist party leaders had been ongoing since the previous Johor state election.
He said an initial understanding reportedly required PAS to sit out the Johor polls, which would have paved the way for a BN sweep of all 56 state seats.
“Among the UMNO leaders, Datuk Megat (political secretary to the deputy prime minister Datuk Wira Megat Zulkarnain Omardin) believed that if the negotiations were successful UMNO can win big in Johor,” he said in a Facebook posting.
“Unfortunately, the UMNO–PAS collaboration failed and this has caused BN to be in shambles.
“The situation is made worse by the recent BN candidates line-up consisting of recycled, mediocre (figures) and seen as anti-aspirational,” he added.
Puad said the issue of negotiations with PAS was also raised during a UMNO Supreme Council meeting on June 10, where some members cautioned that any engagement should be strictly tied to electoral objectives.
“However, if the collaboration is aimed at uniting the ummah, it will not succeed,” he said, adding that it would be better to focus on the National Musyawarah Council chaired by Tan Sri Ghani Othman.
He further claimed that some within UMNO believed that securing political cooperation with PAS would have a greater impact than securing the release of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is currently serving a prison sentence.
“This situation has also turned some UMNO leaders egoistic and over-confident,” he said.
Puad, who has frequently been outspoken on internal party matters, left UMNO on June 25 following his disagreement with BN’s candidate lineup for the Johor state election. - June 29, 2026
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