UMNO should not get too excited that PAS will now side with Barisan Nasional following Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) decision to reject electoral cooperation with the Islamist party, a political analyst said.

University Kebangsaan Malaysia associate professor Samsu Adabi Mamat said although PAS and Umno appeared to be courting each other, PAS will ultimately look at the seats it gained after the 14th general election and then decide who to align itself with.

“Right now, it only looks like PAS is working with Umno, but we cannot say they have formal cooperation. PAS has said it will stand as a third bloc.

“It may be that after the general election is over, PAS will count the seats it has won and decide which side it will be friendly with,” said Samsu who is with UKM’s Politics and Security Research Centre.

PAS had previously declared itself to be the kingmaker in the coming election. Although it is visibly friendlier with Malay-Muslim party Umno, its leaders have insisted that their fight in the general election is against the BN main component member.

In the past, PAS and Umno have both said they would work together for the sake of Islam and the Malays.

PAS is expected to form its own coalition Gagasan Sejahtera with Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan) next month.

BowerGroupAsia analyst Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, meanwhile, said negotiations between PH and PAS would likely happen after the general election, depending on the situation.

“I think it will be state by state. Hard to say for the national level,” he said.

Some top PKR leaders had been open to negotiating with former ally PAS to avoid three-cornered fights, especially in PKR-held Selangor, where the Islamist party has 13 state seats out of 56.

PKR, DAP and Amanah have 29 seats while the remaining 14 are held by BN and two independent reps.

PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail herself had reportedly said she was open to talking with PAS. Her deputy, Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali was also seen as one of the biggest proponents of the idea.

Not all in PKR were in favour of reaching out to PAS, which ended its political cooperation with PKR this May. PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli recently called on the party leadership to hold a special congress to resolve the PAS issue, and so did a group of party grassroot leaders, representing over 50 divisions.

All talks about engaging with PAS ended early Tuesday morning when the PH presidential council declared that the coalition would not work with PAS.

Yesterday afternoon, PKR’s political bureau also announced that the party would remain committed to efforts to strengthen PH and prepare strategies to defeat Umno-BN in the coming polls.

On PKR’s internal affairs, Asrul said it was an open secret that there was antagonism between the two camps.

Although Rafizi might have won a moral victory in the latest development, Azmin was PH election director and held considerable influence in the party and Selangor.

“Azmin is also the menteri besar and he believes he has the right to do what is needed to retain power in the coming polls,” he said.

Meanwhile, Universiti Sains Malaysia’s political sociology professor Sivamurugan Pandian said Azmin would have to find ways to convince his PH colleagues about PAS.

“If PH says no with PAS, Azmin will have to restrategise and make sure that PAS will at least be friendly towards him in Selangor,” he said.

PAS declared last week that it would be contesting 42 seats out of 56 in Selangor, which meant the Islamist party would also be gunning for seats currently held by PKR and eyed by Amanah, Bersatu and Umno, leading to three-cornered fights. – August 30, 2017.