KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — Islamist party PAS said today that the upcoming state elections will show that voters do not accept the political alliance between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN).
Following Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s challenge to Perikatan Nasional (PN) to use the state election as a litmus test, PAS information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin said Umno had already recorded its worst result in the 15th general election (GE15).
“PAS is confident that the internal turmoil between PH and BN, and the obvious weakness of the PMX administration would be punished by voters in the state elections,” he said in a statement, referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“If PH and BN pact fails, [Zahid] will have to step down honourably,” he told the deputy prime minister.
He pointed to the GE15 where BN and Umno only managed to win 30 parliamentary seats in total.
He also claimed that Umno members would shift their support to PN after the party’s leadership is purportedly seen as submitting itself to DAP. He did not give any examples to support his argument.
He added that the shift in support would also be compounded by the dispute over the division of seats between Umno and DAP in several states.
“Many Umno members are now determined to openly oppose Umno,” he said.
Yesterday, Zahid challenged PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to use the state elections to gauge the support of voters, mockingly wishing the latter “good luck”.
This comes as Muhyiddin claimed that PN could win up to 80 per cent of popular votes in the state elections, due to support from Malay voters.
