KOTA BARU, Aug 30 — PAS said today the Pakatan Harapan decision to not cooperate with the party in the next general election does not come as a surprise because it was expected.

Party vice-president Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said PAS had no intention of establishing cooperation with any component party of Pakatan Harapan after having withdrawn from the opposition pact.

"PAS will not have any discussion with Pakatan Harapan so long as Parti Amanah Negara and DAP are in the pact.

"PAS will also not establish ties with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM). When Pakatan Rakyat ceased to exist, PAS had prepared itself to go it alone, even if the electoral contests will be three- or four-cornered,” he said to reporters after attending a state executive council meeting at Kota Darul Naim, here.

PPBM and Pakatan Harapan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that the opposition pact would not cooperate with PAS in the 14th general election.

This is likely to result in three-cornered contests in GE14 among Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional and PAS.

Mohd Amar, who is the Kelantan deputy menteri besar, said PAS had not established any political cooperation with Umno and the two parties were only on the same page in matters associated with Islam.

He also said that PAS was in the process of identifying constituencies to contest together with the third bloc (of non-political parties) as a result of PAS’ cooperation with several other parties under the Gagasan Sejahtera umbrella which he declined to elaborate. — Bernama