THERE will be no electoral pact between Pakatan Harapan and PAS in Selangor as negotiations between the two parties have failed to yield a concrete answer from the Islamist party, a state exco revealed.

Selangor sports development exco Amirudin Shaari said Menteri Besar Azmin Ali, who is the Selangor PH chairman and PKR deputy president, had not made the decision on his own, as some had claimed, but with the support of his party and coalition.

“As far as I know, the MB’s actions are in tandem with the PKR party line as well as with Anwar Ibrahim’s directive to talk to PAS.

“This was a PKR decision that was made in a presidential meeting. There have been discussions with PAS but they haven’t decided. We cannot wait for too long,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Azmin, in an interview with Nanyang Siang Pau published yesterday, said there was no secret negotiations between PKR and PAS.

“Since PAS has decided on a split with PH at a national level, we will not be working with them in the 14th general election,”he said.

Amirudin today said there was no secret division of seats between the parties in PH, and that seats were allocated according to “winnability”.

“The president council said it should be winnable. Each decision must be based on a winnable formula.

“It will be based on the readiness of the mechanisms and the acceptance (of party and candidate) in the area, on personal opinion.

“All other views are personal and made without considering survey results. There are parties who feel that it is their right to have some seats without giving concrete reasons,” he said.

Political analyst Hisommudin Bakar of Ilham Centre said Azmin’s statement comes after PAS’ declaration last month that three-cornered fights with BN and PH were unavoidable.

He said Azmin’s decision was good news for PH, which could now focus on retaining Selangor in the general election.

“The MB’s job now is to draw up a strategy to keep Selangor with the other component parties in PH.”

He said Azmin’s announcement  would motivate the others in the party to work harder to win back Selangor voters’ confidence, and also strengthen Chinese support in the state.

“To the Chinese voters, PAS is a liability to any party working with it.

“It will also win support for Azmin, who has been avoiding a confrontation with PAS, to ensure a maximum victory to PH Selangor,” Hisommudin said.

PAS Selangor assistant commissioner Yunus Hairi confirmed that there had been no negotiations for a working pact between the Islamist party and the opposition coalition.

“He (Azmin) has already said that (there is no cooperation)

“Politically, PAS has severed ties with PKR. There is no discussion between PAS Selangor and PH after this,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The PAS syura council cut ties with PKR last May, citing PKR’s failure to support the party’s bill to amend the shariah laws.

Since the break-up, PAS has said it will contest 42 of the 56 seats in Selangor, which would result in three-cornered fights with PH and BN.

Its decision has angered many PH supporters, who say tri-corner contest would benefit no one except the ruling coalition. – February 2, 2018.