In an interview with Sinar Harian, Wan Azizah, who is PKR president, pointed out that although PAS chose not to work with DAP, a united electoral front was possible because the two parties’ seats did not overlap.

However, more in-depth negotiations were needed for the seats that PAS and Pakatan Harapan component party Amanah wished to contest.

She said opposition parties had learnt their lesson from the Sarawak state assembly elections in May at which multi-cornered contests took place between Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan parties and PAS.

She said what was now important was for opposition parties to form the biggest bloc in Parliament. “We know that ‘if we are not together we will lose the base and miss the boat’,” she said.

Wan Azizah also said she believed PAS was a realistic party, noting that there was a difference in Selangor PAS and the Islamic party’s central leadership.

She gave the example of Selangor state executive councillor Iskandar Abdul Samad, a PAS vice president, who had in the past said that Selangor PAS had no problems about working with the DAP in the Selangor state government.

This was despite the fact that PAS national leaders said they could not work together with DAP.

She said she believed PAS also wanted a certain level of cooperation with PKR as a middleman when it came to matters of power, and that even though Selangor was unique, due to the presence of Amanah, she felt that things could still be worked out.

Wan Azizah’s interview comes in the wake of reports that the new PAS spiritual leader, Hashim Jasin, has stressed that the party would never cooperate with DAP again and was willing to face three-cornered contests against opposition parties and the Barisan Nasional in the coming general election (GE14).

Hashim said cooperation with PKR and Amanah would be decided at the Central PAS Committee meeting on Oct 22-23. The committee would also table a study on political cooperation with other opposition parties.