THE PREFERRED CHOICE
PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man had on Saturday night said the party had wanted to retain Hamzah in the role from the outset because of his performance and the support he commanded among opposition lawmakers.
“Actually, from the very beginning, we wanted to retain Hamzah because of his performance and because many members of parliament were with him. It was just that Bersatu was not particularly comfortable with Hamzah’s position at the time, as he had been expelled from the party.
“So when he formed a new party (Parti Wawasan Negara) … we thought we should continue to retain him (as Leader of the Opposition),” Tuan Ibrahim was quoted as saying by Malaysian news platform Berita Harian.
Separately, Kelantan PAS Youth chief Firdaus Nawi said that Hadi’s announcement of Hamzah’s return as opposition leader was a “knockout blow” to Bersatu, sending a “clear signal” to the former ally.
“It sent a clear message that PAS remains the main force setting the direction of opposition politics, while Bersatu is losing value and influence,” he said, according to local news platform Sinar Harian.
Firdaus further accused some Bersatu leaders of being more interested in attacking PAS and Hadi than repairing ties within the opposition bloc.
“They expected PAS to become weak once ties between PAS and Bersatu started to crack. But the reality is that PAS continues to move forward with its own strength,” he said.
Analysts whom CNA spoke to previously said that the split between PAS and Bersatu was an inevitable outcome that signals the end of the PN opposition coalition in its current form and the onset of a new Malay political realignment.
They had said then that in the short term, PAS would prioritise a pact with a breakaway Bersatu faction led by Hamzah, while a more formal cooperation with the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) remains a longer-term possibility.
Hadi – the PAS president – had said that Bersatu’s future within PN will be made during the coalition’s central working committee meeting on Jun 17.
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