COMMENT Yesterday’s hopeful signing of an electoral pact between Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan was followed by an article by my esteemed fellow writer Zaid Ibrahim, who essentially argued that it was unwise for Bersatu to have stated intentions to pursue a separate arrangement with PAS.

This of course brings us back to the question of whether PAS a) is an entity that one should work with in order to remove BN, or b) should be ignored uncompromisingly as a third party destined to be defeated into obscurity.

A strong argument for option b) is that PAS under Abdul Hadi Awang has already gotten deep in bed with Umno, and therefore should be written off as untrustworthy and unreliable as an ally.

By this point, even I am willing to concede that Hadi’s leanings are more likely pro-Umno than anything else.

Is this alone a reason we should pursue option b) as above?

The long game

I would argue not. The short answer as to why is simply that we must play the long game, and not the short one.

I admit, if PAS themselves decide they will three corner the next elections no matter what, then there is nothing much else for anyone to do.

This seems unlikely however, as really, nobody would gain anything. More likely, if there is no pact with the opposition, PAS will enter into some sort of pact with Umno instead. The long term effects of this are disastrous, and will set us back decades almost.

Again, PAS decides to do this on their own accord, there is nothing anyone else can do. What the rest of the opposition can do however, is make sure that they themselves (the opposition) are not the ones responsible for pushing PAS into the arms of Umno.

Mentality of the PAS grassroots

Understandably, Harapan/Bersatu will need to determine whether PAS is a lost cause; as in, whether they have already ‘secretly’ decided to align with Umno no matter what. If so, then investing resources and time into a pact would be a waste.

I believe however, that this scenario is less likely than many people who simply don’t like PAS may tend to believe.

Understanding this has a lot to do with understanding the mentality of your typical PAS member. These are men and women who have grown up their entire lives fighting Umno. Their disdain for the latter runs deep, and is not something that can be turned completely around overnight.

I believe that if Hadi did really push PAS into a full-on alliance with Umno, he would face an internal revolt that he would not survive. Even his number two, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, has consistently signaled a different direction.

Ultimately, I think that in the long run, we can rely on the PAS grassroots to continuously oppose Umno, for all the right reasons - as long as, and this is a very important part, the rest of the opposition does not go out of its way (the way Lim Guan Eng did in 2015) to anger, humiliate and alienate PAS.

As long as the grassroots remain anti-Umno, PAS will remain anti-Umno.