RIVAL parties Amanah and Umno in Kelantan are strategising to topple the state-led PAS government in the next general election, insiders from both parties said.

Leaders from the two Malay parties told The Malaysian Insight that discussions have begun informally and each side is positive about developments.

Amanah Kelantan deputy chairman Che Ibrahim Mohamed confirmed that the party’s central leadership has given the local chapter the green light to talk to Umno but is unsure if the other side has received similar approval from headquarters.

“There are no official meetings, but negotiations are underway. I’m made to understand that Umno here has yet to get permission from their supreme council,” Che Ibrahim said.

The nod from the central leadership of both parties is important so that the local chapter can have autonomy in deciding electoral strategy.

“The point is to avoid three-cornered fights. Amanah is willing to pave the way in that direction to avoid three-cornered fights in Kelantan,” Che Ibrahim said.

The agreement will allow Umno, which will contest under Barisan Nasional (BN), and Amanah which is under Pakatan Harapan (PH), to face PAS one-on-one.

Of Kelantan’s 45 state seats, 39 are held by PAS and six by Umno. Amanah did not win a single seat in the last general election.

“We are ready not to contest where BN is contesting and we hope BN will not contest where PH will contest.

“So Amanah has been given the go-ahead by the national level to start informal discussions on the matter,” Che Ibrahim said.

He believes Umno is unofficially pursuing the same strategy as part of their new political strategy, following the party’s decision to stop supporting Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

The Umno general assembly resolved at its annual gathering in March to stop working with Muhyiddin’s party, Bersatu, for GE15.

On July 8, Umno’s supreme council decided the party was pulling its support for Muhyiddin.

DAP is eyeing the Galas state seat in Gua Musang and Kota Lama in Kota Bharu, Che Ibrahim added.

On the Umno side, its Kelantan information chief Zawawi Othman confirmed the preliminary discussions with Amanah, and called it “coffee shop talk” for the moment.

“The current understanding is the same, to overthrow the PAS government,” he said.

These discussions with Amanah have been “in general” and informal in nature, the former Semerak assemblyman added.

Zawawi, however, said Umno still had doubts about cooperation with Amanah because its grassroots machinery was weak.

But Umno remains open, since its separate pact with PAS under Muafakat Nasional (MN) was as good as dead in Kelantan, the Pasir Puteh Umno chief said.

MN was formed by Umno and PAS after the former lost federal power in the general election in 2018 for the first time in its history. But as Umno became increasingly at odds with Bersatu, the pact has grown weaker as PAS opted to support the prime minister’s party.

“What is the use of ‘muafakat’ (consensus) if there is no respect for each other,” Zawawi said of PAS.

He said PAS violated the MN charter it had with Umno once it decided to join the PN coalition, while Umno did not.

In line with Umno’s stance against Bersatu and PN, Zawawi quit his appointment as chairman of the state government company Kesedar Kilang Sdn Bhd in April.

Zawawi said Umno could be “friendly” with Amanah leaders like its Kelantan chief, Husam Musa, who was a former senior exco in the Kelantan government when he was with PAS.

Husam contested but lost the Kota Bharu parliamentary seat as well as the Salor state seat in the 2018 general election.

But Kelantan Umno cannot accept Amanah’s two allies in PH – PKR and DAP, Zawawi said.

“But if DAP wants to support Umno, we have no problem.” – July 28, 2021.