The council, a PAS wing for religious scholars, has also rejected any cooperation with Pakatan Harapan.

The motion will be brought up at the Islamic party’s muktamar (general assembly) tomorrow. Traditionally, motions approved by the ulama council would be adopted by the central leadership.

A Kelantan representative on the council, Tuan Mohd Saripuddin Tuan Ismail, who tabled the motion, said there was a need to avoid any overlap in Malay-majority constituencies to ensure that votes would not be split, benefitting PH.

Saripuddin also said PAS needed to be proactive in uniting political parties and NGOs to ensure that the Malay-Muslim community remained powerful politically.

A Pahang representative, Nasrudin Hassan, said that PH appeared likely on paper to make big gains from three-cornered fights.

“PAS will do all it can to ensure PH does not return to power,” he said. He said the opposition coalition’s 22-month-long tenure (from May 2018 to March 2020) had proved to be “a painful experience”.

Nasrudin said PH could forgo their dreams of reclaiming Putrajaya if three of the biggest Malay parties, PAS, Umno and Bersatu, could unite.