PAS might be on the losing end in the East Coast, its stronghold as the Islamic party is expected to face Barisan Nasional (BN) giants UMNO in 27 constituencies.
The party once part of the Pakatan Harapan pact severed ties after it joined Perikatan Nasional and in 2019 it joined forces with UMNO to push for Muslim unity through Muafakat Nasional.
Malaysiakini had reported the possibility of PAS losing most of the seats it won during the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018 and the clash of seats is mostly in Kelantan and Terengganu. During the last elections, PAS had won most of the 27 seats, now it has to fight hard to stay in power.
“This includes traditional UMNO seats that were won by PAS after a three-cornered fight during GE14.
“PAS does not want to lose those seats to Pakatan Harapan should it face UMNO, whilst UMNO is hopeful of wresting back their traditional seats from PAS this time around,” said a PAS source to the online news portal.
Although both PAS and UMNO are working together on the basis of Muslim unity, both parties seem determined to rival each other come GE15.
PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin in an FMT report said that the party was ready to face UMNO stating further that it was a democratic process.
He also hoped that the contest would not get in the way of pushing for the Muslim unity.
At least when it comes to an election, PAS wants to strengthen its cooperation with Perikatan Nasional suggesting that an election is at the moment the party’s top priority and if that means contesting against UMNO.
It has been reported that PAS has identified at least 30 parliamentary seats that it is hopeful of winning and have been categorised as “green seats”.
Of the 30 seats, almost all see a clash with UMNO while five seats will see the party wrest with its counterpart Bersatu.
Can PAS retain its dominance in the East Coast? Let’s wait and see. – Oct 14, 2022
Main photo credit: JohorKini
