KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said today that his party is more than willing to become part of the opposition instead of forming a coalition government with Barisan Nasional (BN).
Abdul Hadi appeared to contradict his own secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan on partnering BN, saying that this is not possible due to the court charges against Umno leaders.
“If we win by ourselves with a two-thirds or simple majority, then we don’t need others. If there are those who want to work together with us after we form a government, we will accept them,” he told reporters during his campaign tour to Melaka, which was also live-streamed.
“If PAS doesn’t get a simple majority, then we are willing to become the opposition. We have been the opposition for decades, we don’t want a government that is not clean.
“But if there are clean Umno leaders [who want to work with us], then that’s a different story,” he added.
This comes as Pakatan Harapan chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim alleged earlier that senior BN and Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders were already negotiating a post-election pact in anticipation of neither coalition securing a majority after November 19.
Islamist party PAS is a component of PN, after severing ties with Umno ahead of the election.
PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan had earlier expressed confidence in a PN victory at the 15th general election, after suggesting his party would join with BN to form the next government.
However, he was forced to walk this back by expressing “full confidence” that PN could win GE15 independently, after coalition chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the former was not authorised to discuss such matters.
The PAS leader said BN was the only viable choice for his party in the event there was no winner with a clear majority after voting was over.
Abdul Hadi attempted to downplay Takiyuddin’s remark, claiming that the sentiment was from before the Parliament was dissolved.
“The remark was made before Parliament was dissolved, not after,” he claimed, despite Takiyuddin reported expressing his preference for BN in Kota Baru today,
“I have said that we reject BN, we reject BN for being extreme and trying to free those with corruption cases,” he said, pointing to DAP national chairman Lim Guan Eng’s Penang undersea tunnel graft trial.
“As for BN, we know their leaders are still facing trials in court, we hope the Umno general assembly was held before the 15th general election so there can be change from within. But it didn’t happen, and this is a problem.”
