Mere denial of ‘secret pact’ with PAS not enough, BN told

PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional needs to display a firmer stance against PAS if it hopes to put to rest claims of a “tacit understanding” with Perikatan Nasional to form the next Johor state government, says an analyst.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Mazlan Ali said merely denying the allegations was insufficient, especially if BN’s election campaign goes more on the offensive against Pakatan Harapan and other parties compared with PAS.

“BN needs to clearly show that PAS is not a coalition partner it would benefit from,” he told FMT.

Mazlan added that PAS’s decision not to field candidates in multiple seats to avoid clashing with Umno may have been a strategic political investment for the future.

“If this move helps Umno win by preventing a split in Malay votes, it could open the door for future negotiations,” he said.

DAP’s former Mengkibol assemblyman Chew Chong Sin had claimed that there was a secret pact for the Johor polls between BN and PN, based on the 33 candidates the latter is fielding.

Only BN and PH are contesting all 56 seats. A simple majority of 29 seats in the state assembly is needed for a party to form the new Johor government.

Johor Umno dismissed Chew’s claim, saying BN has had no talks with PN.

State BN chief and menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi had said BN would govern Johor alone if it won the July 11 state election, while PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said the Islamic party aimed to serve as an “adviser” to the state government from the opposition benches.

Nonetheless, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin had expressed confidence PN could win enough seats to form the state government.

Tawfik Yaakub of Universiti Malaya said a BN-PAS cooperation would not be impossible as the former has been more politically pragmatic of late.

He said BN had experienced the pains of being in the opposition and knows the importance of being in government to maintain its influence, machinery and grassroots support.

Tawfik added that working with the Islamic party is probably what Umno grassroots want, although conflicting views among some top leaders prevented the two parties from joining forces in the 15th general election.

“If both PAS and Umno-BN have worked with DAP, why can’t they form a new political configuration without Bersatu?”

PAS ended its political cooperation with Bersatu earlier this month, but both parties remain PN components and are contesting under the same banner in the Johor polls.