INTERVIEW Pakatan Harapan can win the next general election, with or without PAS, by riding on anti-Umno sentiment, said a former member of the ruling Malay party.

Former deputy higher education minister Saifuddin Abdullah, who is now with PKR, said the 'Anything But Umno' (ABU) sentiment would still be a factor in the next polls.

"In the last general election, about half of the electorate voted opposition, not necessarily because they were voting for opposition, but they were voting against BN.

"Remember ABU? I pun kena la (I too was affected)," he said, referring to his defeat in the Temerloh parliamentary seat against PAS' Nasruddin Hassan in 2013.

ABU was a movement that began in 2011, whose message was any other party would be better than Umno-BN in governing the country.

While the movement has died down in recent years, there is currently rising dissatisfaction against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, whose RM2.6 billion scandal even prompted Saifuddin to consider quitting the party.

Saifuddin eventually quit Umno and joined PKR on Oct 14, after he was given a show cause letter for attending the Pakatan Harapan roundtable earlier that month.

Speaking to Malaysiakini in an interview at the PKR headquarters last Friday, Saifuddin said anti-Umno sentiments aside, it was possible for the reborn opposition pact to win Malay votes without PAS.

This, he said, would depend on how strong PAS-splinter group Amanah will be by then, and also how effectively it can convince Malay voters that Pakatan can take better care of them compared to Umno.

"We must explain well our policies to the bumiputera electorate, show our track record in Penang and Selangor to convince people that we will take care of the interests of the Malays," he said.

Electoral pact

He emphasised that this is not just to win votes, nor was it meant to sideline the non-Malays.

"We must remain centrist and multiracial, but there's no harm at the same time attending to Malay interests, not because we want their votes only – that's the Umno and BN narrative – but because Islam is rahmatan lil alamin (a blessing for the whole world)," he said.

Saifuddin, however, did not rule out the possibility that things might be different with PAS in the future

"In politics there are things called electoral pact, things might move differently as the election draws nearer. So you must give the benefit of space between now and the election, we don't know what's going to happen," he said.

PAS' membership in the opposition pact ended after it severed ties with DAP in July, prompting the formation of Pakatan Harapan, with Amanah replacing the Islamist party.

PAS has since declared itself as the opposition against the Pakatan Penang state government, and abstained from an opposition move to boot out Najib by voting down the federal budget in Parliament.