BARISAN Nasional (BN) candidates contesting in the Malacca elections have been instructed not to attack PAS in their campaigns, Malacca Umno deputy liaison chairman Mohamad Ali Mohamad said.

Ali, who is contesting in the Sg Udang constituency, said Umno still hoped that PAS would be its ally for the next general election, even though the Islamist party sided with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in these polls.

“Maybe (the outcome of this state polls) will give them a clue… maybe we can work together for the future of the Malays and Muslim in the next election.

“I still adhere to the principle of Umno always opening its doors to PAS regardless of what will happen in this election,” he said in an interview with The Malaysian Insight recently.

Umno and PAS formed Muafakat Nasional (MN) shortly after GE14 in an effort to unite Malays nationwide.

Following which, PAS then joined forces with Bersatu to form PN. While Umno, PAS and Bersatu are allies at federal level, Umno is contesting against the PAS and Bersatu pact in all 28 state seats.

Ali said Umno would not consider PAS as its enemy even if the latter decides to side with Bersatu.

“We do not consider PAS an enemy, so our friends in BN contesting and campaign speakers are not going to attack the party,” he said.

However, the deputy Dewan Negara speaker admitted that BN could add more seats in Malacca if PAS had joined the coalition to fight together.

“With PAS it is easy for us to win (more seats) but we are ready to go solo. It would have been easier to win 23 seats if PAS had been with us,” he said.

He said the split between the two parties would only cause a bigger gap in the Malay-Muslim community.

“If there is a split between Umno and PAS in dealing with the situation today due to politics, we do not want this to impact the Malay-Muslim community.

“We in Umno maintain our efforts to provide cooperation between the Malay-Muslim parties, especially to parties that are friendly to Islam.

“Although our approaches are different in these state polls, Malacca Umno is still open to work together with PAS,” he said.

Ali said the outcome of the election would reflect the direction of BN for the future.

“Malacca can be a benchmark for BN because with the racial composition here, there are Malays, Chinese, Indians… this gives the idea that if BN can win handsomely in Malacca, it will be a benchmark for BN to win GE15 later,” he said.

PAS is contesting in nine Malacca seats in the state polls using the PN logo, seven of which are against Umno. They include Kuala Linggi, Taboh Naning, Durian Tunggal, Klebang, Bukit Katil, Duyong, Serkam and Merlimau.

Pakatan Harapan, PN, and BN are contesting in all 28 seats, while Parti Bumiputra Perkasa Malaysia is fighting in five seats and Parti Perikatan India Muslim Nasional in one seat.

A total of 22 candidates are competing on independent tickets.

The Election Commission disclosed there are 11 constituencies with three-way fights, nine contests with four candidates, five seats with five candidates, and three seats in a six-way fight.

The Malacca elections are on November 20. – November 12, 2021.