Its president, Abdul Hadi Awang also called for the grassroots to be patient and not give up despite the poor performance by the party in the recent Johor state elections.

“They must not give up just because the party did not get the support of the public who misunderstand PAS,” he said.

PAS suffered a heavy defeat at the recent Johor polls, winning only one seat – Maharani – out of the 15 it contested.

Hadi had previously said the Malay electorate in Johor was not politically astute.

The Marang MP went on to portray PAS as a party of high morals and would not compromise on such matters.

“We don’t seek publicity to win polls or posts,” he said in a Facebook post today.

“Nor will we keep silent on what is sinful or lies that split the community.”

Hadi had earlier this month, in the build-up to the Johor polls, urged voters to put an end to “misconduct, malpractice and corruption” by voting Umno-BN out.

Umno and PAS, the two largest Malay-based parties, formed Muafakat Nasional (MN) in September 2019 as an electoral pact aimed at uniting the Malay-Muslim vote.

However, ties between the two parties have grown increasingly strained after PAS joined Bersatu to form PN when Muhyiddin Yassin was the prime minister.

A high-ranking Umno leader told FMT last month that MN was now “merely a marriage of convenience”. In November, Hadi had rejected the pact and described it as akin to being “shackled”.