The Malaysian Insight

PAS and Bersatu will contest under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) banner in the next general election in Terengganu, a state Bersatu leader said.

Terengganu Bersatu chairman Razali Idris told The Malaysian Insight that so far, there has been no instruction to change the logo despite talk of PAS wanting to use its own logo.

“There’s no change, the current decision is to remain with the PN logo,” he said in an interview.

It was previously reported that some PAS leaders wanted to contest using the party’s moon symbol in three states – Terengganu, Kelantan and Kedah. These are states under PAS’ rule.

Razali, however, said Bersatu does not see this as a big matter and is open to accepting any proposals that can bring victory to PN.

He said it is not a new thing for Bersatu to contest using the logo of another party as it had used the PKR logo in the last general election.

“For Bersatu, we do not think it is an extreme proposal (for PAS to use its own logo) if that results in wins for PN in Terengganu. So we agree as long as it is still under the PN framework,” he said.

“If such a decision is made by our leadership, we will accept. There’s no problem in that as long as we do not turn our back against our partners.”

Razali is also confident that PAS will agree on whatever decision made by PN’s top leadership.

On PAS’ efforts to resume cooperation with Umno under the Muafakat Nasional (MN) pact, he said such calls were made by PAS leaders at the national level.

“This has no impact on the landscape in Terengganu,” he said.

Razali said such a development also does not prevent Bersatu’s focus on contesting in 10 Terengganu seats held by Umno, as announced last May.

Although the distribution of seats has not yet been finalised, he believed it would be resolved as soon as possible as the general election is around the corner.

Razali also hoped that the top leaders would be able to distribute the seats fairly to PAS, Bersatu and Gerakan – all partners in PN.

“The previous announcement by Terengganu Bersatu that it wanted 10 seats was just a rough estimation, which is Bersatu’s focus on Umno seats,” he said.

“It has not been finalised. Whether the 10 seats are given to Bersatu or some to PAS, that is still being discussed.”

New voters

Razali feels that three-cornered fights would almost certainly happen based on PN’s initial discussion on the election pattern in Terengganu.

His prediction is also supported by Umno’s consistent stance that it still wants to contest against PAS in Terengganu.

“In this general election, it is very dynamic if we look at Terengganu, as from the beginning, PAS and Umno have failed to cooperate,” he said.

“Umno leaders have said there is no MN, and Umno will compete in all state and parliamentary seats in Terengganu.”

Razali said PAS is expected to defend the seats it won in the last general election, and Bersatu will not participate in the negotiations between the Islamic party and Umno.

He said Bersatu and PAS could form a better alliance in seizing Umno’s seats by targeting new voters.

The targeted seats are those won by with a small margin – fewer than 1,000 votes.

Razali said feedback showed that voters tend to support PN because they liked Bersatu’s performance, especially when Muhyiddin Yassin was prime minister.

In addition, he said, the combination of Bersatu and PAS in Terengganu will boost the confidence of new voters to support PN.

“If we target first-time voters in constituencies won by fewer than 1,000 votes, the tendency is towards PN,” he said.

æIt doesn’t happen only in Terengganu; it is the same in other places. So this combination of PAS and Bersatu, I see new voters will give PN a chance in these constituencies.”

As of April, the number of new voters in Terengganu has been reported to reach almost 300,000, involving those aged between 18 and 30. – October 9, 2022.