PAS is expected to forge a new political alliance with former Bersatu deputy president Hamzah Zainudin’s Reset movement and other minor Malay-Muslim parties following its fallout with Bersatu, according to political analysts.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Mazlan Ali said that although PAS had ended its political alliance with Bersatu, Perikatan Nasional components Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) were likely to stick with Muhyiddin Yassin’s party.
“PAS has no other option but to go with Reset. Other small Malay parties like Berjasa, Putra, and Pejuang could join PAS since its Malay-Muslim narrative aligns with their causes,” he told Free Malaysia Today.
PAS contested the 2018 general election as part of Gagasan Sejahtera, an informal Muslim-based coalition that included Berjasa and Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia. Berjasa, Putra, and Pejuang are already part of the loose Ikatan Prihatin Rakyat (IPR) alliance started by Muhyiddin last year.
Hisommudin Bakar of Ilham Centre said PAS’s biggest challenge now was resolving its position within Perikatan Nasional following its fallout with Bersatu. “Recent developments suggest that PAS and Bersatu are now competing over who holds political legitimacy over the PN brand and its future direction,” he said.
“Bersatu appears unwilling to back down or relinquish its influence within the coalition. As such, this issue will likely need to be settled before PAS can move towards forming new political alliances.”
In the more immediate term, Hisommudin said PAS would be more comfortable working with Hamzah’s band of former Bersatu leaders rather than rushing to form a new grand coalition. The relationship between PAS and Hamzah’s camp could then serve as the foundation for a more organised Malay-Muslim political bloc.
PAS ended its political alliance with Bersatu on Monday and said it would explore new alignments to face future elections and “unite the ummah.” This drove speculation of PAS and Umno reviving their defunct pact, but Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said his party had no such intention and that the party had “closed the book on it.”
Mazlan said the split between PAS and Bersatu would benefit Barisan Nasional in GE16 as the fallout between the two parties would divide pro-opposition Malay voters. “BN would be more capable of facing PAS’s challenge in this situation,” he said.
However, Hisommudin cautioned that it was too early to assess how a standalone BN would fare against a PAS-led coalition in GE16, noting that key variables including PAS’s new political alignment, its organisational strength, and the willingness of Malay voters to embrace a new political configuration remained uncertain.
The developments carry significant implications for the upcoming Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections, as the realignment of opposition forces could reshape the electoral landscape in both states.
