Shahrir said with that stand, Umno ministers also do not have to wait for Parliament to be dissolved to leave the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

“PAS and PPBM are rejecting any attempts to threaten the PN government. PAS is no longer strengthening MN which now belongs only to Umno and Barisan Nasional.

“The latest joint statement by PPBM and PAS defending the PN government puts BN lawmakers in an awkward position. There is now no need for them to wait until Parliament is dissolved,” he said in a Facebook post.

The outspoken former Johor Bahru MP said his parliamentary constituency and the Larkin and Stulang constituencies under it would see three-cornered contests among BN, PN and PH in the next election.

In a statement today, PAS and PPBM announced that they have decided to continue to strengthen their collaboration in PN and work together in the coming general election.

The two parties also agreed to set up a central level mechanism to decide on the distribution of seats for the general election.

The deal raises questions over the PAS pact with Umno in MN as, only last weekend, Umno had asked PAS to choose between MN and PN.