KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — PAS made the decision to support Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister to put a stop to so-called “blatant fraud” among certain MPs who dithered over their choices, its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said today.

He said such “U-turns” among those who initially supported Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad but then withdrew it next, had failed as in the end, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government was established.

“Per the Constitution, a very interesting change occurred which did not sacrifice the people nor inconvenienced them,” Hadi said in an address streamed on Facebook.

Speaking from the PAS central headquarters in Jalan Raja Laut here, he also thanked Dr Mahathir while serving as prime minister, by leading the country through challenging circumstances resulting from the unpredicted outcome of the 14th general election in 2018.

“It cannot be denied that several other figures were also promoted as prime ministerial candidates, but who failed. When Dr Mahathir’s name was listed as a candidate, a change occurred amid other issues influencing the rakyat including unclean methods such as slander, social media, and the like.

“At the same time, PAS faced its own challenges from those who sought to break it apart from within. They failed, and what happened is the splinters among us who used PAS as a host for their personal ambitions have been taken away, leaving the party stronger, more mature, and with greater support,” Hadi said.

He likened the ascension of the PN government as a change made through democratic means on par with general elections, or any change through representatives elected by voters.

“What happened was the self-fragmentation of Pakatan Harapan which was not of our doing, with efforts to overthrow the prime minister by what was seen as pressuring. This is also known as ‘taking over the reins through the roof’ not the back door.

“But at last, we succeeded in forming a Unity Ummah Cabinet consisting of the political parties involved in this change. It was not just limited to two or even three parties only, but instead of multiple parties,” Hadi said.

Three PAS MPs have since been appointed as ministers by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin: Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, and Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali.