KUALA LUMPUR – Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has maintained that PAS should be the party to leave Perikatan Nasional (PN) after ending its political cooperation with Bersatu, rather than seeking to remove the coalition’s founding member.
Muhyiddin said Bersatu had a legitimate place in PN as one of the parties that established the coalition and could not be compelled by any party to withdraw.
He said political convention dictated that a party choosing to sever ties with its coalition partners should be the one to leave, citing PAS’s exit from Pakatan Rakyat and Bersatu’s departure from Pakatan Harapan as precedents.
“If you’re dissatisfied with a friend in your ‘house’, you should be the one who leaves the house instead of trying to force your friend to leave. It doesn’t make sense.”
“But maybe PAS knows that PN, which I founded, holds value. Therefore, it’s clinging on to PN and trying to make Bersatu leave.”
“No one can force Bersatu to leave PN. On the other hand, Bersatu can decide to leave at any time,” he said, as reported by FMT.
PAS announced last month that it was ending its political cooperation with Bersatu, although both parties remain members of PN.
The internal dispute has unfolded as PN undergoes changes under the leadership of its new chairman, PAS vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar. The coalition has also expanded with the inclusion of Pejuang and Parti Wawasan Negara, led by former Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
The fallout between PAS and Bersatu became apparent during the Johor state election on July 11. Despite contesting under the PN banner, PAS did not campaign for Bersatu candidates, with the coalition failing to secure any seats.
Ahead of the Negeri Sembilan election on Aug 1, the PAS-led PN has instead reached an electoral understanding with Barisan Nasional (BN) to prevent three-cornered contests.
Under the arrangement, BN will contest 25 of the 36 state seats, while PN will field candidates in the remaining 11 constituencies. – July 26, 2026