Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Pawi said PPBM will also have to concede to the demands of Muafakat Nasional (MN) and the reality that Umno is the stronger party in terms of grassroots support.

He told FMT the rhetoric of uniting the ummah frequently heralded by MN would go to waste if PAS were to prioritise its relationship with PPBM over Umno, adding that ditching the Barisan Nasional (BN) party would be costly.

“In the Umno-PAS relationship, PPBM is seen to be the third party, like the third person in a relationship,” he said.

He said PAS was probably leaning towards PPBM more because it currently held more power than Umno since it occupies the highest positions in the government.

However, he said the safest way forward for the Islamist party to remain in a place of power would be to leave Perikatan Nasional and focus on MN only.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob recently said efforts to unite the Malays cannot sideline PPBM, adding that there should not be any quarrelling between the three parties.

Ahmad was commenting on Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin’s statement that Umno and PAS were strong enough to be dominant on their own.

However, Kelantan Umno said it was unclear whether PAS was committed to MN and warned that ditching their alliance would see the parties going against each other in the state at the next polls.

Universiti Utara Malaysia’s Kamarul Zaman Yusoff said the PN presidential council, announced recently, needed to be set up swiftly to improve ties in the coalition.

“This is the place for them to quarrel, discuss or negotiate, instead of making the media as their platform to squabble,” he told FMT.