Ties sour further between Malaysia’s key opposition parties - is this enough for Anwar to call snap polls?

KUALA LUMPUR: At his home beside the Rusila mosque in Marang, Terengganu last Friday (May 22), Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang warned that his party’s patience was wearing thin.He accused opposition coalition partner Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) of “playing out” PAS by seeking to field multiple candidates during elections despite barely mustering any grassroots machinery on the ground.Then he took aim at what he described as Bersatu declining to strengthen the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition by restricting the entry of new component parties, a move he felt was disconcerting.These disagreements have prompted PAS - which leads PN - to review its partnership with Bersatu, Hadi said.

“We have our patience but our patience has its limits. Elections are near but if cooperation in Perikatan affects our electoral results, then we have to do what is necessary,” he said.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang at a rally in Kota Bharu, Kelantan ahead of the state election in 2023. (File Photo: CNA/Fadza Ishak)

Bersatu’s response was swift, saying later that day it was taking Hadi’s comments seriously. On Sunday, the party, whose president is the former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, released a lengthy six-page response via social media.Bersatu’s political bureau rejected allegations that the party did not support the addition of new members to PN, saying it was open to forming electoral pacts with them first before weighing membership applications.The bureau also insisted the party was “continuously striving” to improve its grassroots support, pointing to “hundreds of new membership applications daily” in recent months while taking a veiled swipe at its partner’s right-wing Islamist brand and appeal.“Bersatu’s moderate image, inclusivity, progressiveness and people-centric policies, as well as credible experience have propelled voter support for Bersatu candidates and other parties within Perikatan Nasional,” it said.PN’s other members are the minority-centric parties Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party.