Amanah says can work with Umno in Terengganu to topple PAS state govt

Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Terengganu chapter, led by Amanah, is open to working with Umno in the next general election (GE15) to prevent a PAS victory although its leader Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad maintains that any cooperation of the sort will not amount to a collaboration.

“Even though we are not under the same umbrella, our differences are not so significant. We are not attacking Umno, Umno is not attacking us either,” he said in an interview with The Malaysian Insight.

He added in the report that such a move, which might include swapping seats in the election, would be better described as an “understanding”.

“I think we have an advantage; we can communicate, and there may be opportunities for understanding for us to focus on certain seats,” he was quoted as saying.

Terengganu has been under PAS rule since GE14 in 2018, when the Islamist party ousted Barisan Nasional, winning 22 of the 32 seats in the state legislative assembly.

Amanah, a PAS splinter, was formed by a group of leaders who left after the June 2015 party election, citing ideological differences.

The group rebranded the existing Malaysian Workers’ Party, on condition that it would not work with Barisan Nasional and Umno.

It currently holds 11 seats in the Dewan Rakyat.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight, Kamarul said there was “room” for discussions as long as the interests of Terengganu PH and Umno are aligned.

“We have the same goal, which is to save Terengganu from PAS,” he was quoted as saying.