Perak PAS Youth chief Akmal Kamarudin's (above) claim that a formal alliance between Umno and the Islamist party would threaten Pakatan Harapan's hold on Perak is wrong.

Speaking to Utusan Malaysia, he had based his argument on the number of seats won by the respective parties following the last general election.

Umno and PAS controlled 30 seats compared to Harapan's 29 following the 14th general election. However, two Umno assemblypersons have quit the party since then.

Sungai Manik assemblyperson Zainol Fadzi Paharudin has joined Bersatu, whereas Tualang Sekah representative Nolee Ashilin Mohamed Radzi is an independent, thereby reducing Umno and PAS' number in the state legislative assembly to 28.

In the Utusan report, Akmal said if the pair remained in Umno, it would give the new alliance a single-seat edge over Harapan.

"Initially, we did not want to form an alliance with Umno... But after the 14th general election, PAS sees BN members as excellent opposition lawmakers," he added.

Meanwhile, in Kedah, Umno and PAS have the same number of seats in the legislative assembly as Harapan - 18.

In the event of a deadlock, speaker Ahmad Kassim - a PKR member - can exercise his right to vote.

Interestingly, 21 lawmakers had backed Ahmad's appointment as speaker last July. This means that three among the 18 opposition lawmakers had supported the government's nominee.