Kuala Nerus MP Khairuddin Aman Razali said Hadi should have worked on strengthening its cooperation with Umno instead. He described Bersatu as a “small party” that depended on the strength of others.

“It’s his right as president (to make that decision). I’m different from him but, in this matter, I’m confident that his strategy has not benefitted PAS,” the former PAS Syura Council secretary told FMT.

He said Hadi should have made use of PAS’ “restored” relationship with Umno to form a stronger alliance, following the formalisation of Muafakat Nasional (MN) in September 2019.

PAS should be relying on Umno as one of the pillars of the MN pact aimed at uniting the ummah, rather than Bersatu, the former Cabinet minister said.

“I’m confident that if the PAS president defended (the party’s) relationship with Umno, Bersatu would have acceded to it because they’re a small party, they depend on PAS,” he said.

Khairuddin also claimed that there were other PAS leaders who shared the same sentiments on PAS working with Bersatu, but said they only opted to speak internally.

“When decisions are made by the party, they just fall in line, saying it’s the party’s right to work with Bersatu. I disagreed, so I left. That’s all,” he said.

Khairuddin was sacked as secretary of the PAS Syura Council on Feb 11. He had been expelled from the party’s central committee a month earlier.

He resigned from PAS in March to become an independent MP.