S’gor Bersatu’s PH pact exposes leaders’ long-held leanings, says Kiandee

Former Bersatu vice-president Ronald Kiandee has commented on the proposed pact between Selangor's Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan, revealing that he believes Azmin Ali, Hilman Idham, and Dr Afif Bahardin are responsible for the agreement. Kiandee stated that the current Bersatu leadership has long harbored a desire for an association with PH, and that the recent negotiations have merely made their intentions more evident.

He suggested that they may have remained more discreet in the past due to opposition from certain members, including himself. Kiandee told FMT that the pact likely had been in the works for some time, involving former PKR leaders in Bersatu. Selangor's Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari recently announced that Bersatu assemblymen would sign a pact with the state government before the budget is presented, with terms still to be finalized.

The announcement comes in the midst of escalating tensions between PH and BN, and a split between Bersatu and PAS, which currently leads the Perikatan Nasional coalition. PAS's Pendang MP, Awang Hashim, dismissed concerns over the rifts between BN and PH, noting that such changes in alliances are common in politics. He also expressed confidence that Bersatu's decision to cooperate with PH in Selangor was made by the party itself, despite its continued membership in the PN coalition.

PAS's chairperson had not anticipated this fallout within Bersatu and had avoided getting involved in the party's internal disputes.