PAS ‘Kingmaker’ created the new government, says Hadi

PETALING JAYA: PAS Chairman Abdul Hadi Awang, downplaying the so-called “Sheraton Move” in February, said today that it was his party that became the “kingmaker” during the height of the political crisis that later led to a change of government.

He said he had previously joked that the party would be a kingmaker in the 2018 general election, and his hope had been realized.

“We only had 18 parliamentary seats and two state governments (Terengganu, Kelantan). And suddenly, Allah Almighty made us kings, by changing the political scene of the country, ”Hadi said in a speech at the PAS Youth general assembly in Kota Bharu.

He added that during the period of political crisis, the political parties of the Pakatan Harapan government (PH) and the opposition Barisan Nasional (BN) had tried to “woo” the PAS.

“We decided to take the ‘middle ground’ route and create a third group, Gagasan Sejahtera. During the political unrest, both parties seemed to be tired, except for us, ”Hadi said.

He said that with a new political approach, PAS had formed the Muafakat Nasional pact with Umno, which subsequently led to the formation of Perikatan Nasional (PN), which took power after the collapse of PH.

Hadi said that the PN had managed to take control of the federal government in a peaceful and democratic way. “We are not a back door government, although we may have different opinions,” he said.

The PN government took control of the federal government on March 1, after PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin showed Yang di-Pertuan Agong that he had the support of the majority of deputies.

PH, which originally included PPBM, PKR, DAP and Amanah, had been in power since the fourteenth general election in 2018. PH’s government collapsed with the resignation of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad from the post of prime minister and the presidency of PPBM .

The collapse of PH had been attributed to the so-called “Sheraton Move”, after a dinner held at a hotel in Petaling Jaya attended by politicians and MPs from the PPBM, some members of the PKR and BN, then in opposition.