He said the testament to that was the fact that a record 12,000 people joined Amanah last month, most of them former PAS members.

“The main factor behind PAS members leaving is PAS itself. You see, before the polls, PAS had said supporting Umno was akin to ‘tanggung biawak hidup’ (having a monitor lizard as a pet).

“They have even said they will never support Umno. Now, is this ‘biawak’ still alive? Generally, most PAS members are unhappy,” the Pokok Sena MP said here today.

Umno and PAS appear to be moving closer, with some speculating that they may form an opposition coalition following extensive cooperation in the past three by-elections.

This was further strengthened by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi appearing as a guest of honour at PAS’ muktamar in Terengganu recently.

Mahfuz said Amanah and Pakatan Harapan member parties should embrace PAS members with open arms, instead of shunning them.

“I have said to Amanah and PH members, we have severed ties with PAS, the political organisation, but not its members. Same goes for Umno.

Mahfuz said PAS itself had admitted it had shed about 80,000 members.

On Sept 16, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said PAS had a total of 818,029 members from 7,140 branches in the country. He said there had been a drop of 8.89% or 79,711 members compared with last year.