Islamic party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang told Langkawi voters on Tuesday (May 1) to refrain from voting for opposition coalition leader Mahathir Mohamad, and to “let him rest”.

Speaking at a political rally in front of more than 1,000 PAS supporters in Kuah, Langkawi, the veteran politician said: “Now he’s in old age … his time is up. It’s not the time for him to fight.

Senior fellow with S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Yang Razali Kassim told Channel NewsAsia that PAS hopes to be kingmaker by playing a role that is, “at least on paper”, detached from the PH and BN coalitions. However, Mr Yang Razali noted that Mr Abdul Hadi is “in spirit” closer to BN than to PH.

“PAS’ game is to ensure at least three-cornered fights. But this can be a double-edged sword. If the outcome is narrow, PAS can play kingmaker.

“But the political ground has evolved such that PAS can also end up being marginalised by the two giant contending coalitions – BN and Pakatan Harapan,” he added.