Malaysia's Bersatu, PAS trade barbs over Hamzah Zainudin's return as opposition leader

Commentary

The break between Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia could portend a major realignment of the country’s ethnic Malay-based parties, writes CNA’s Leslie Lopez.

President of Malaysia’s opposition Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS), Hadi Awang, is the man largely responsible for turning the right-wing Islamic party into a potential spoiler in the upcoming Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections. (Photo: AFP)

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19 Jun 2026 06:00AM

KUALA LUMPUR: The formal severing of ties between Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and its erstwhile ally, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), has been pitched as a clash of personalities between its top two leaders, cleric Abdul Hadi Awang and former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

But this rupture runs far deeper.

A seismic shift is underway in the dynamics of ethnic politics in Malaysia.

The divorce, finalised on Jun 8 after months of public feuding, could signal the beginnings of a slow demise of the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition. More consequentially, it could also presage a PAS-centric era in Malay political life - one with far-reaching implications for the country’s multiracial fabric.

PAS, the opposition force with the largest bloc of Members of Parliament in the lower house, now stands at an inflection point.

With a membership base exceeding 1 million and the control of four state administrations, PAS has transformed from a fringe political entity – once dismissed as a political phenomenon confined to the northern rice-bowl rural Malay states – into the pivot around which the future of Malay politics could revolve.

While several other Malay political entities – such as United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Bersatu – haemorrhage support among the community they claim to represent, PAS is consolidating its position with the country’s conservative Malay-Muslim.

Consider the individual trajectories of UMNO and PAS in recent years: The decline of UMNO, once considered the preeminent guardian of ethnic Malay interests, has been the most dramatic. The party that won 102 seats in the 222-member lower house in the 2004 general election took a mere 26 seats in the last national polls in 2022.

PAS’ ELECTORAL TRAJECTORY

By contrast, PAS has demonstrated one of the most remarkable electoral trajectories.

In the 2013 General Election, it won 21 seats before this tally dipped slightly to 18 seats in the 2018 poll. Then in 2022, PAS emerged as a serious national contender when it won 43 parliamentary seats, capturing roughly 54 per cent of the popular vote among the Malay electorate on the peninsula.

The question is no longer whether PAS matters, but rather whether the party can parlay its current dominance and turn itself into a lasting national political force.

The upcoming state assembly polls in Johor and Negeri Sembilan - both highly urbanised states with ethnic Malays accounting for 60.1 per cent and 58 per cent of the general populations respectively - are set to serve as laboratories that will provide clues to the changing voter sentiment.

PAS is expected to contest in both state elections, and they present a crucial challenge and opportunity for the party.

These contests will provide the first major test of whether PAS can lay the foundations outside of the four mainly rural Malay-belt states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis that it now governs.

Both Johor and Negeri Sembilan offer different dynamics.

WILL JOHOR REMAIN UMNO FORTRESS?

Johor, currently an UMNO fortress, will go to the polls first on Jul 11. The results will reveal whether UMNO remains the unassailable guardian of Malay interests in the strategic southern gateway of Peninsular Malaysia or whether the party has hollowed out beneath the surface.

The UMNO-led Barisan National (BN) coalition is hoping for a big win in Johor to build momentum when it does battle in Negeri Sembilan, which goes to the polls on Aug 1. Wresting control of the Negeri Sembilan state government away from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan coalition, would embolden UMNO’s push for early national elections.

This assumption, however, ignores the quiet transformation of PAS from a northern curiosity to a serious participant in the upcoming state polls.

For years, UMNO and its BN allies successfully portrayed PAS as a party full of turbaned clerics who practice a dogmatic brand of Islam that allows for severe corporal and criminal punishments for certain crimes.

That stereotype no longer holds. While Hadi still regularly sports a white turban and a long, flowing ankle-length garment that reinforces his identity as a veteran cleric, the Islamic party’s current leaders are more partial to suits that exude executive authority.

PAS is already bulking up for this new political challenge by exploiting the turmoil in former Prime Minister Muhyiddin’s Bersatu.

Hamzah Zainuddin, previously…