Kuala Lampur, Aug. 13 -- The escalating conflict between PAS and Bersatu is no longer merely an argument between two political parties that have ceased to trust each other.

It is rapidly becoming an institutional dispute over who possesses the authority to define Perikatan Nasional (PN), interpret its constitution and determine which component parties are entitled to participate in its decisions.

That distinction matters enormously.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has claimed that Bersatu effectively removed itself from PN by seeking to form another political coalition.

Hadi went so far as to argue that no formal announcement was necessary because Bersatu's membership had automatically lapsed.

Yet PN chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar sub...