MARANG: PAS will review its relationship with Bersatu following several disagreements within Perikatan Nasional, says Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang.
According to Sinar Harian, the PAS president said the issues being examined included Bersatu’s rejection of efforts to strengthen the coalition by blocking the inclusion of Malay-Muslim parties and non-extremist non-Muslim parties.
"Matters like this will be studied and examined one by one to determine our next course of action. Elections come with gains and losses and involve the question of support.
"If it affects Perikatan in elections, it means we are not acting as we should," he told a press conference at his residence in Rusila here on Friday (May 22).
Asked if PAS would contest solo in the next general election if no consensus was reached, Hadi said the party would not be alone as it still holds the role of Perikatan chairman.
However, he did not rule out the possibility of Bersatu’s membership status in the coalition changing ahead of the 16th General Election (GE16).
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"That is a possibility that cannot be answered now because it has not happened yet. Let it happen first.
"In politics, there are many possibilities. But in future, Bersatu cannot continue acting as it did before," he said.
On claims that PAS had been "played out" twice by Bersatu, Hadi said his party had chosen to remain patient but warned that patience has its limits.
He also claimed that during previous state elections and by-elections, Bersatu demanded many seats despite lacking sufficient machinery on the ground.
"They have candidates, but the number of workers is far too small compared with the thousands of members they claim to have.
"In the end, when we went down to the ground, it was PAS members who did all the work.
"That is the reality and we are taking all these aspects into consideration," he said, adding that PAS would not bow to Bersatu’s demands.
He also said PAS had written to Bersatu on May 9 and face-to-face discussions also took place at Perikatan meetings.
Although no deadline had been set for Bersatu to respond, he said PAS had tasked its Syura Council, election committee and research division with studying their ties in detail.
The Marang MP said he was confident that PAS’ strength would remain unaffected and that the party was always ready to face elections.
"I do not think this will affect Perikatan. We are still contesting under the Perikatan banner and PAS is a component.
"PAS is the main driving force of Perikatan and the leadership has the right to determine the coalition's direction in elections," he said.
