Malaysia’s opposition bloc in turmoil as PAS cuts ties with Bersatu

Malaysia’s most powerful Islamist party has cut ties with a former electoral ally, blowing open a bitter feud within the country’s main opposition bloc as several key elections loom.Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang announced late on Monday that the party’s central working committee had decided to “terminate political cooperation with Bersatu”, endorsing an earlier decision by its Syura Council, the party’s highest religious decision-making body.The partnership had given Malaysia’s opposition a powerful Malay-Muslim backbone. PAS brought the country’s biggest parliamentary party, deep religious networks and formidable election machinery across the northern and east coast heartland, while Bersatu brought the name recognition of its co-founder Muhyiddin Yassin – a former Umno heavyweight who served as prime minister after the collapse of a previous Pakatan Harapan government in 2020.Malaysia’s then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin takes part in a virtual Apec summit in November 2020. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNSMonday’s move stopped short of formally withdrawing PAS from Perikatan Nasional (PN), the Malay-Muslim opposition coalition built around the two parties. But it does throw the bloc into deep uncertainty ahead of snap state polls in Johor and Negeri Sembilan, and a general election that must be held by early 2028.