PAS’ cooperation with Perkasa will only benefit the Islamist opposition party in the rural east coast, as the move will alienate non-Malay voters in urban areas, analysts said.

Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) CEO Wan Saiful Wan Jan said racial and religious campaigning may work in the next general election, due by 2018, but noted that such a strategy will not work in the long run as voters become more educated.

“PAS is positioning themselves to be exactly like what Umno is,” Wan Saiful told Malay Mail Online.

… Dr Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said PAS was trying to show its independence, even as the Islamist party refused to work with newly-formed opposition pact Pakatan Harapan that comprises PKR, DAP and PAS splinter group Amanah.