PETALING JAYA: PAS and Umno are unlikely to cooperate in Terengganu for the 15th General Election (GE15).

       Terengganu PAS commissioner Datuk Husain Awang said the Islamist party had tried to organise several meetings to discuss cooperation with Umno, but their efforts were in vain.

       "PAS tried to meet Umno twice, but we failed both times, because Umno is 'busy'," Husain was quoted as saying by Astro Awani on Friday (May 6).

       Presently, PAS has 23 out of 33 seats – and with it a two-thirds majority in the Terengganu state assembly – while Umno has 10 seats.

       Meanwhile, Besut Umno chief Nawi Mohamad was quoted by news portal Free Malaysia Today as saying that Umno would contest all 32 seats in Terengganu in the coming general election.

       Nawi had said that Terengganu Umno had decided not to be a part of the Muafakat Nasional charter with PAS.

       "We decided to leave Muafakat, so there is no need to discuss the division of seats," Nawi was quoted as saying on May 5.

       The Muafakat Nasional charter for political cooperation was signed between Umno and PAS in 2019.

       However, ties between Umno and PAS are believed to have worsened after the Islamist party officially joined Perikatan Nasional.

       Umno-PAS ties took a bigger hit when the two parties clashed in multiple seats at the Melaka election last November and the Johor state election in March.

       In April, 2020, Terengganu Umno chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Said had said the Muafakat Naisonal charter was dead and Umno would contest in all seats.