BERSATU and PAS will contest the Johor elections as one team under Perikatan Nasional (PN), coalition chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Seat negotiations as well as candidate selection are ongoing and will be finalised soon, Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu chairman, said.

“We will decide the matter in a day or two, God willing,”  said the Pagoh MP.

Both he and Hadi held a joint press conference after a meeting in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, today.

Muhyiddin also said PN would use its experience in the Malacca elections last November in formulating a strategy for the Johor polls.

Bersatu and PAS today agreed that they would strengthen their cooperation at the grassroots level as well, and work at converting fence-sitters in Johor as well as young and new voters.

PAS president, Abdul Hadi Awang, when asked about his party’s relationship with Umno and the status of their pact Muafakat Nasional (MN), declined to comment.

Prior to today’s meeting with Muhyiddin, the Marang MP yesterday attacked Umno at a press conference in his home state, Terengganu.

He called Umno a lame duck which PAS had nursed back to health, only to have it abandon the partnership. This was in reference to the MN pact both parties formed after Umno lost federal power for the first time in history in the 2018 general election.

Hadi also accused Umno of staging state elections as a way for factions within the party to assert power. He singled out the “court cluster” which comprises Umno leaders who have no positions in government as they are facing graft trials.

The status of MN has been in limbo for some time since PAS opted to join the PN coalition when Muhyiddin was prime minister.

PAS and Bersatu cooperated in the Malacca elections in November last year, winning two seats for Bersatu. – January 29, 2022.