Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said PAS should be the party to leave Perikatan Nasional (PN) if it no longer wants to continue political cooperation with Bersatu.
Muhyiddin said Bersatu, as one of the founding members of PN, has the right to remain in the coalition and cannot be forced to exit.
He said it was a common practice for a party to leave a coalition when it decides to end cooperation with other component parties, citing previous examples involving PAS leaving Pakatan Rakyat and Bersatu leaving Pakatan Harapan.
“If you are unhappy with a friend in the same house, you should be the one leaving the house instead of asking your friend to leave. That does not make sense,” he said.
The former prime minister claimed PAS was attempting to push Bersatu out because it recognised the value of PN, adding that no party had the authority to force Bersatu to leave the coalition.
He said Bersatu, however, could decide to leave PN if it chose to do so in the future.
PAS ended its political cooperation with Bersatu early last month, although both parties remain members of PN.
Following the move, PN, now chaired by PAS vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, accepted two new component parties, namely Pejuang and Parti Wawasan Negara, led by former Bersatu deputy president Hamzah Zainudin.
The disagreement between PAS and Bersatu also surfaced during the Johor polls, when both parties contested under the PN banner but PAS decided not to campaign for its coalition partner. PN eventually failed to secure any seats in the state election.
Ahead of the Aug 1 Negri Sembilan election, the PAS-led PN reached an electoral understanding with Barisan Nasional (BN), with both coalitions agreeing to avoid clashes across the 36 state seats.
Under the arrangement, BN is contesting 25 seats while PN is contesting 11 seats.
Bersatu opposed the cooperation and decided to contest independently under its own banner in 24 constituencies, resulting in clashes with PN candidates in eight seats.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said he would step down as Bersatu president once his term ends next year, regardless of the outcome of the Negri Sembilan election.
He said the leadership transition was necessary to refresh the party and allow Bersatu to move forward under new leadership.
At the 2023 Bersatu general assembly, Muhyiddin had initially announced that he would not defend his presidency, but later reversed the decision after delegates urged him to continue leading the party for another term.
