2026 opposition realignment
This page covers the 2026 changes in Perikatan Nasional (PN) leadership and the PAS–Bersatu relationship, and why they matter for the next general election.
what happened
PN’s leadership changed before the June split. Muhyiddin announced that he would leave the chairmanship effective 1 January 2026, and PN’s Supreme Council appointed PAS vice-president and Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar as his successor on 22 February.
On 8 June, PAS ended political cooperation with Bersatu. PAS said it wanted to consider electoral arrangements promoting Muslim unity, while Muhyiddin said the following day that Bersatu would remain in PN. This created an important distinction for voters: parties may still describe themselves as being in the same coalition while no longer cooperating politically in the same way.
PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim said the decision did not end the parties’ relationship or friendship. That statement did not, however, settle the practical questions of how PAS and Bersatu would divide seats, choose candidates, or campaign in GE16.
The split then showed up on ballots. At the Johor election on 11 July, PN contested 33 seats and won none, with PAS and Bersatu campaigning separately and PAS directing supporters to BN where PN was absent. On 14 July, Parti Wawasan Negara formally joined PN after a Registrar of Societies-approved name change. In Negeri Sembilan on 1 August, PAS and other PN components contested alongside BN and the two formed the state government together, while Bersatu ran under its own logo and won nothing. Whether these state-level arrangements carry into GE16 remains unsettled.
The dispute then moved to whether Bersatu is in PN at all. On 17 July Muhyiddin said Bersatu would form a new coalition after the Negeri Sembilan poll, with Putra, Urimai and other IPR parties. On 25 July he said the PN constitution requires the consensus of all component parties to remove one. On 7 August Hadi said the same constitution puts Bersatu out automatically, because it had announced a new coalition of its own. Both men are describing a document this page cannot check, and no PN Supreme Council decision settling it has been reported as at 14 August 2026, so a voter should treat "Bersatu is in PN" and "Bersatu is out of PN" as the two parties' positions rather than as a settled fact. GE16 had not been called as at that date.
the working
What the sources say
established
Parti Wawasan Negara identifies itself as a PN component party and, while preparing for elections, has appointed state and federal-territory coordinators.
established
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced on 30 December 2025 that he would resign as PN chairman effective 1 January 2026.
established
PN’s Supreme Council approved Muhyiddin’s resignation and appointed Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar as PN chairman on 22 February 2026.
established
Samsuri was a PAS vice-president and Terengganu menteri besar when he became PN chairman.
established
PAS announced on the night of 8 June 2026 that it had ended its political cooperation with Bersatu after a special meeting of its Central Working Committee.
established
PAS said it wanted to explore electoral arrangements intended to promote Muslim unity ahead of state elections and the 16th general election (GE16).
established
On 9 June, Muhyiddin said Bersatu would remain in PN despite PAS ending political cooperation with it.
established
PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said on 10 June that ending political cooperation did not mean ending PAS’s relationship or friendship with Bersatu.
established
Parti Wawasan Negara formally joined PN on 14 July 2026 after the Registrar of Societies approved the change of Parti Cinta Malaysia’s name to Parti Wawasan Negara on 6 July.
established
The split's first electoral test came at the Johor state election of 11 July 2026: PN contested 33 seats (Bersatu 16, PAS 11, MIPP 5, Pejuang 1) and won none, PAS and Bersatu campaigned separately, and PAS instructed members and supporters to vote for Barisan Nasional in areas PN was not contesting.
established
In the Negeri Sembilan state election of 1 August 2026, PAS and other PN components contested alongside Barisan Nasional, which won 18 of 36 seats to PN's 7, and the two formed the state government together; Bersatu contested 24 seats under its own logo and won none.
established
Launching Bersatu's Negeri Sembilan candidates on 17 July 2026, Muhyiddin said that after the state election Bersatu "will no longer be alone" and would form a new coalition, naming Ibrahim Ali's Putra, P Ramasamy's Urimai and other parties in the Ikatan Prihatin Rakyat (IPR) grouping as intended partners.
established
On 25 July 2026 Muhyiddin said Bersatu could not be removed from PN unilaterally: "Under Perikatan's constitution, to sack any party, you must get the consensus of all members."
established
On 7 August 2026 PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said Bersatu had already ceased to be a PN member: "They have already stated their intention to want to form another 'team'. They announced it themselves. They are automatically out."
where accounts differ
The parts nobody agrees on
uncertain
No published PN Supreme Council resolution defining Bersatu’s status after PAS ended political cooperation with it has been located; PAS and Bersatu’s public positions remain their respective claims rather than a verified PN constitutional outcome.
searched: PN, PAS and Bersatu statements and contemporaneous news reporting
contested
Whether Bersatu is still a component party of PN is disputed between the two parties. Hadi says the PN constitution provides that a party which joins or forms another coalition automatically ceases to be a member; Muhyiddin says the same constitution requires the consensus of all component parties before any member can be removed. This page has not been able to obtain the text of the PN constitution, so it does not adjudicate between the two readings, and no PN Supreme Council decision settling the point has been reported as at 14 August 2026.
contested
Political analyst Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia characterised the PAS–Bersatu split as the beginning of a broader opposition realignment before the next electoral cycle.
contested
Analysts quoted by the New Straits Times attributed the pre-split tensions to changing power relations within PN and to what they described as Muhyiddin’s reduced influence; this is an interpretation, not an official finding by PN or its parties.
contested
Analysts quoted by Free Malaysia Today said Bersatu might need to rebuild its party identity, grassroots machinery, or alliances after PAS’s decision; these are forecasts rather than confirmed party decisions.
uncertain
It remains unclear how PN’s component parties will translate PAS’s end of political cooperation with Bersatu into candidate selection, seat negotiations, and campaigning for GE16.
still being researched
- What the PN constitution actually says about the loss of membership and about expulsion. The coalition's constitution is not publicly available in a form this page could verify, so both Hadi's reading and Muhyiddin's are recorded as claims.
- Which parties will actually be in Bersatu's proposed new coalition, what it will be called, and when it will be registered.
- Will PAS and Bersatu contest against each other in GE16, or reach state-by-state arrangements?
- Whether PN will make a seat-allocation decision or assign Parti Wawasan Negara a parliamentary role.
- Whether any new PAS cooperation with other parties will become a formal national electoral pact before GE16.