PAKATAN Harapan leaders today welcomed the news that PAS leaders in three states wanted to form electoral pacts with the opposition coalition at the next elections.

PH elections director Mohamed Azmin Ali said the coalition is ready to work with any party to unseat Barisan Nasional at the 14^th general election (GE14).

“While PAS is not a member of PH, we have announced our intention in the past to avoid three-cornered fights.

“There are no formal negotiations with PAS but we have to see if we can have a common framework to unseat BN,” he said after a meeting at the Bersatu office in Petaling Jaya today.

He said that if any political party wants to make a change, PH is ready to discuss and explore options for the sake of the country.

“If there any negotiation or discussion with PAS, we will inform our partners in PH. We will share the information with the council and discuss and get consensus to move forward.”

Azmin’ PKR colleague, Nurul Izzah Anwar said the latest development is something positive for the country to ensure the goal of defeating Barisan Nasional is achieved.

“InsyaAllah (God willing), as long as all parties prioritise Malaysia and want to defeat the ruling party which is stealing from the rakyat,” the party’s elections director told The Malaysian Insight.

The Malaysian Insight earlier today reported that PAS leaders in Kelantan, Selangor and Kedah are negotiating with the Islamist party’s top leadership to form electoral pacts with PH in these states.

The latest development comes as PAS leads a second opposition bloc, which could see it take on both PH and BN in multi-candidate contests, which have historically benefited BN.

Party sources said the leaderships of the three states were petitioning their bosses for leeway to work with PH to avoid multi-cornered contests.

This is to maintain straight fights between the opposition and BN in order to increase the chances of defeating the ruling coalition.

The Lembah Pantai MP added that PKR has now declared a “ceasefire” with the Islamist party to ensure that their relationship does not deteriorate further.

In May, PAS formally broke off ties with its longest ally since 1999 but remained in the PKR-led Selangor government.

PAS’ rift with its former allies in the opposition began earlier in 2015, when it left the then Pakatan Rakyat coalition after a fallout with DAP over its insistence on implementing hudud in Kelantan.

The rift led to a PAS split with younger, progressive leaders, such as Salahudin Ayub and Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, leaving to form Amanah.

PAS is set to launch its Gagasan Sejahtera Rakyat next month, which is expected to comprise Parti Cinta Malaysia, Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia and Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia.

PH, meanwhile, comprises PKR and DAP, as well as Amanah and Bersatu.

On Saturday, PKR leaders had also visited PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, raising speculation that PAS might cooperate with PKR in GE14. – August 14, 2017.