Akademi Nusantara’s Azmi Hassan said PAS would likely have wanted to secure the state seat for itself.

PAS holds the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat, within which the Kuala Kubu Baharu state seat is located. It also holds the Hulu Bernam state seat which is located within the same parliamentary constituency.

Azmi told FMT that PN’s decision to field Hulu Selangor Bersatu chief Khairul Azhari Saut for the Kuala Kubu Baharu seat may have caused PAS leaders and members to minimse their campaign efforts for the opposition coalition.

“PAS’s election machinery is much more efficient than both Bersatu’s and Gerakan’s, but they did not go down to help the Bersatu candidate this time around,” he said.

In its by-election forecast, Ilham Centre said PAS’s campaigning for Khairul was noticeably muted. Despite forming the backbone of PN’s machinery, the think tank said the Islamic party had not fully mobilised its members for the by-election.

Ilham Centre also said Selangor PAS did not appear aggressive in its campaigning, while machinery from the party’s other state chapters was absent.

However, this was denied by PAS vice-president Amar Abdullah, who said the party merely adopted a different campaign strategy by going door-to-door instead of speaking at ceramahs.

Meanwhile, Bilcher Bala of Universiti Malaysia Sabah said PAS could have won more votes for the opposition if it contested the seat, although victory would have been unlikely.

He said PAS would have expected Pakatan Harapan to successfully defend the seat as 30% of the voters were Chinese. For that reason, the party may not have been keen to expend its resources, he said.

“The PN and Parti Rakyat Malaysia candidates merely reduced PH’s majority. PAS understands this situation, and that it’s a waste of money and time,” he said.