In a Facebook post, Marzuki Mohamad said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was also present during the audience with the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong after GE15.

“Did Muhyiddin act alone? No, he did not.

“Also present with him during the audience with His Majesty at the time was Hadi. PAS, too, has a policy of not cooperating with DAP,” he said.

Yesterday, suspended Supreme Bersatu Council member Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said he was told by senior PAS and Bersatu leaders that Muhyiddin did not consult with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) Supreme Council about the proposal before making the decision.

The GE15 resulted in a hung Parliament, with no party commanding a majority. Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah subsequently proposed a unity government as a way out of the impasse.

However, PN declined to work with Pakatan Harapan (PH). This resulted in PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim being appointed as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister after obtaining the majority support to form the government with backing from Barisan Nasional, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, Warisan and others.

Wan Fayhsal said he was also told there had been a proposal for a rotational premiership between Muhyiddin and Anwar, as both PN and PH held strong positions post-GE15.

He suggested that Muhyiddin had rejected the proposal on the principle of not cooperating with DAP or because PN already had 115 seats.

When asked whether PAS leaders were unhappy with how the matter was handled, Wan Fayhsal said he could not speak for PAS, “but suffice to say, the decision was made unilaterally”.

Marzuki also said the decision made by Muhyiddin and Hadi to reject the proposal of forming a government with DAP was a sound political judgement that proved correct.

“If it had been the wrong decision, PN would have been soundly defeated in the 2023 state elections. But that didn’t happen,” he said, adding that PN went on to win convincingly in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis.

“PN also came close to victory in Selangor, a stronghold for PH. The coalition also made significant inroads in Penang and Negeri Sembilan,” he said.

Making a comparison with Umno, Marzuki said the party had discussed cooperating with DAP at its Supreme Council but this proposal was rejected by its own grassroots supporters.

He said many of Umno’s supporters — a large segment of Malay voters — switched their support to PN in the 2023 state elections because they disagreed with the party leadership’s decision to abandon the “No Anwar, No DAP” policy.