KUALA LUMPUR: PAS leaders arrived to hold a meeting Monday (June 8) night at its headquarters here to decide on the fate of ties with Bersatu in the Perikatan Nasional coalition.
The headquarters was under tight security by PAS members to stop the crowd of media waiting outside from questioning leaders who arrived to attend the meeting.
The meeting is expected to be chaired by PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang.
This meeting follows the Syura Council of Ulama - the highest deciding body of PAS — throwing the decision on whether to continue cooperation with Bersatu back to the PAS central council.
Leaders including Opposition Leader and Perikatan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar were tight-lipped as they were quickly ushered into the headquarters.
The leaders of PAS and Bersatu - the two main components and co-founders of Perikatan - have been butting heads since last December.
On Sunday (June 7), Bersatu reiterated its determination and commitment to maintain good relations with PAS in Perikatan Nasional.
Its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said this after confirming he had received a letter from PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan dated June 6.
The letter allegedly addressed the relationship between Bersatu and PAS, along with suggestions to strengthen Perikatan.
“I will give the necessary attention to the suggestions made and bring them to the party supreme council meeting for a more detailed discussion,” he said in a post on his social media on Sunday (June 7).
PAS and Bersatu have had a strained relationship over the past few months after the Perlis Mentri Besar saga in mid-December which saw PAS MB Mohd Shukri Ramli ousted and replaced by Bersatu MB Abu Bakar Hamzah.
PAS leaders criticised Bersatu over this, which later led to the resignation of Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the Perikatan chairman.
PAS’ Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar then took over the chairmanship of the coalition.
On May 22, PAS president Abdul Hadi said that PAS will review its cooperation with Bersatu in Perikatan as the latter had allegedly not kept its promises and allegedly also stopped other political parties from joining Perikatan.
