PETALING JAYA: The strained relationship between Perikatan Nasional component members PAS and Bersatu is unlikely to thaw soon, with the Islamist party seeking to push for a new proposal soon.
PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said PAS intends to propose “PN Plus”, a new “sub-bloc” to accommodate Malay-based parties that have yet to join Perikatan.
This would include the Reset movement led by former Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin, who was sacked from the party in February.
PN Plus, a proposal from the Syura council of ulama – the highest decision-making body in PAS – has been floated to bring together opposition parties keen to join forces with Perikatan to face the next general election.
“PAS is proposing PN Plus as a mechanism to strengthen Perikatan. We hope it will be accepted by the Perikatan leadership,” he said when contacted.
Tuan Ibrahim added that a meeting would be held tomorrow to discuss preparations for the Johor and Negri Sembilan polls.
“This will cover preparations of the party machinery, the seats to be contested and proposed candidates,” he said.
Unless there were other changes, he added, PAS and Bersatu would meet as a coalition to discuss the preparations together.
He also said the loose political cooperation between Umno and PAS – known as Muafakat Nasional – would most likely remain an informal understanding between the parties.
“For the Johor state election, I expect Muafakat to only take the form of ta’awun siyasi (political cooperation), political collaboration or merely an understanding between parties,” Tuan Ibrahim said.
However, PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari said he is confident that PAS would find a solution to the strained ties between PAS and Bersatu.
“We will meet on Monday. Please be patient,” he said.
On May 22, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said PAS would review its cooperation with Bersatu in Perikatan, accusing the latter party of stopping others from joining Perikatan.
Relations between the parties went south when Bersatu terminated Hamzah’s membership over allegations that he had sabotaged the party.
PAS responded by saying it was shocked that Bersatu had sacked the deputy president.
Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Azmin Ali gave a terse response when asked if Bersatu remains committed to staying with Perikatan in the two state elections.
“We are Perikatan,” he said, refusing to elaborate further.
Bersatu youth wing information chief Harris Idham Rashid was more optimistic, saying that Bersatu would work together with PAS as long as they both remained in the coalition.
“We are committed to Perikatan as Bersatu founded Perikatan together with PAS and Gerakan. Bersatu has been leading Perikatan all the while until recently,” said Harris.
However, Bersatu information chief Datuk Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz pointed out that Bersatu leaders have better capacity in running state elections than PAS.
“The current management and administrative systems, as well as the membership database system, are much better than they were previously,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.
For political analysts, the ties between PAS and Bersatu appeared beyond repair.
“Johor and Negri may witness a marriage of convenience rather than a marriage of conviction,” said Prof Datuk Dr Sivamurugan Pandian.
“PAS and Bersatu need each other electorally, but Hamzah’s Reset movement could determine what the opposition looks like after these elections,” he said.
According to Dr Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, all signs point to PAS and Bersatu going their own ways in the two state polls.
“Perikatan Johor chief Datuk Seri Dr Sahruddin Jamal, who is from Bersatu, has announced that the seats have been divided between the component parties.
“Yet Perikatan information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa, who is from PAS, said that if Umno accepts Muafakat, PAS will give up 90% of its seats to Umno and only stand in 10% of the seats in Johor.
“PAS definitely looks like it is straying from Perikatan.”
