Despite cooperation between Perikatan Nasional parties at the federal government, PAS was not invited to PN’s candidate announcement yesterday morning.
“We were not invited,” Sabah PAS chief Mohd Aminuddin Aling told Malaysiakini when contacted.
However, he said PAS will wait for the announcement by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin at an event tomorrow morning.
He said he himself is also anticipating Muhyiddin’s announcement tomorrow, where he will be joined by PAS’s central leadership.
Regardless, he said PAS will accept any decision with an open heart.
“That will be the official announcement, the correct news. If he (Muhyiddin) said PAS will not contest, then PAS will not contest.
“If he said (PAS) will contest such and such seats…10 seats, then PAS will contest 10 seats,” he said.
This evening, PN through Sabah Bersatu chief Hajiji Mohd Noor announced that it would contest in 29 seats, but the arrangement would mean it would clash with BN in at least three seats.
Umno, meanwhile, had announced that it would contest in 31 seats at an event where Bersatu had pulled out at the last minute.
For the record, PN is a loose coalition involving Bersatu that is backed by PAS. At the same time, PAS is also an Umno ally through the Muafakat Nasional alliance that was formed earlier.
Umno had decided not to join PN but strengthen its cooperation with Muafakat instead. MIC, meanwhile, had backtracked on its earlier decision to join PN.
The relationship between Umno and Bersatu is also strained in several states.
Previously, PAS had said on Sept 8 that it hopes to contest in 10 seats.
As for Muhyiddin’s event tomorrow, Aminuddin said he had received an invitation through WhatsApp.
At the same time, he said PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan was involved in seat negotiations up to last night.
“Perhaps the announcement earlier was done on their own,” Aminuddin said.
According to an invitation sent to the media, Muhyiddin is scheduled to make an official visit and meet Sabah party leaders at the Magellan Sutera hotel at 10.45am.
So far, only two government parties have announced that it would contest under the PN ticket, namely Bersatu and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star).
Umno, MCA, and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) will be contesting under the BN flag, while Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) will be using its own logo.
PAS, which had previously said it is prepared to contest either with BN or PN logos, was not seen in either coalition’s announcements.
Overall, BN would contest in at least 36 seats, while PN would contest in 28.
Only three parties were present at PN’s candidate announcement, namely Bersatu, Star, and the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP). However, SAPP is not part of the PN government, while PAS was nowhere to be seen.
Star president Jeffrey Kitingan, meanwhile, said PAS is unlikely to be given any seats to contest due to lack of grassroots support. – Malaysiakini