PN targets winning Pahang in next Malaysian general election

Opposition pact wants Umno stronghold added to its stable of four Malay-belt states

- Azril Annuar

Having secured control of four state assemblies, the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance is setting its sights on Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia's largest state by land size, as its next target.

The PN ambition was made clear at the annual muktamar (congress) of the alliance's lead faction, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), which is being held in three towns in Pahang, an Umno stronghold state.

"Our muktamar in Pahang this year signals that this state is ready to join the other four states that we are currently governing," said PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man in the opening speech of the party's youth wing meeting on Sept 11.

"We will lead the (state) government after the 16th general election," he added, to thunderous applause from the hundreds of delegates in a civic hall in Temerloh town, about 1/2 hours by car from Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Representatives from PAS' key ally in PN, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, were present. Malaysia's next general election, its 16th since independence, is due by end-2027.

PN won the legislative assemblies of Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan in state elections in August 2023 for six of Malaysia's 13 states, while Perlis was taken earlier in the 2022 General Election.

It was the first time that Perlis state had been wrested from Umno, a result mainly of the party's infighting.

The electoral victory in the four Malay-belt states was also propelled by the so-called Green Wave. The pro-PN voters are led by youth disenchanted with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's governing coalition, and enthused by promises of lower costs of living and a Malay Muslimcentric government. Datuk Seri Anwar leads a multiracial coalition.