PETALING JAYA • Malaysia's Islamist opposition party, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), has said it will not work with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) because of the PPBM's ties to two other parties that it does not want to be aligned with.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said yesterday it did not want to work with the PPBM because the latter is aligned with its former ally, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and its splinter party, Parti Amanah Negara.

He was responding to a comment made by PPBM chairman Mahathir Mohamad last Saturday, giving PAS one month to decide whether it would join the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition pact in the run-up to the upcoming general election.

"We have a simple principle and that is to not work with any party that has relationships with DAP or Amanah. We have already made a decision that we will not cooperate - even with their allies," said Datuk Seri Hadi at an event in Ampang yesterday.

"So there is no need to wait for a month. When they work with Amanah and DAP, then it's over," he was quoted as saying by The Star.

The DAP and Amanah, together with the Parti Keadilan Rakyat, make up the opposition PH alliance. Tun Dr Mahathir's PPBM last December signed a pact to work with the PH in the nationwide polls.

PAS has not been keen to align itself with the PH-PPBM pact and is leaning towards working with Umno.

PAS and Umno have previously cooperated by pushing forward a Bill in Parliament to enhance controversial Islamic criminal laws, a move that faced stiff opposition, particularly from the Chinese-dominated DAP.