PAS prepared to go solo for GE15, says Tuan Ibrahim

(FMT) – PAS is prepared to face the next general election (GE15) without forging an alliance with Barisan Nasional-Umno, says its deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

Citing Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan’s recent statement about Barisan Nasional (BN) sticking to their decision to contest GE15 on its own, Tuan Ibrahim said the Islamic party was prepared for such a possibility, Sinar Harian reported.

“If they (Umno) want an alliance, we can join forces, but if it is a fight they want, we will take them on,” he was quoted as saying.

Tuan Ibrahim’s statement comes two days after a PAS central committee member had proposed to brand 27 parliamentary seats as “Muafakat Nasional (MN) seats” for GE15.

In making his proposal, Zuhdi Marzuki said he was concerned that these seats could be won by Pakatan Harapan (PH) should there be multi-cornered fights.

PAS veteran leader Mahfodz Mohamed backed the proposal, adding it should include Bersatu to ensure a comfortable win by the Malay parties.

Umno and PAS, the two largest Malay-based parties, formed MN in September 2019 as an electoral pact aimed at uniting the Malay-Muslim vote.

However, ties between the two parties have grown increasingly strained after PAS joined Bersatu to form Perikatan Nasional (PN) when Muhyiddin Yassin was prime minister in 2020.

Tuan Ibrahim had previously refused to declare the MN pact “dead and buried”.

In the state elections held in Melaka last November and in Johor in March, BN went solo, while PAS contested under the PN banner. Both states were comfortably won by BN.