What a joke, Iskandar!

PAS was absent during the official launch of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) recently “because Amanah and DAP were there”.

This sounds like the biggest joke by Iskandar Abdul Samad, a PAS vice-president. He and his president, Abdul Hadi Awang, would rather be seen with the Malaysian Official 1 (MO1), who has been identified by the US Department of Justice as a kleptocrat, supposedly championing the cause of the Rohingyas.

It is also strange that Iskandar is still in the Selangor state government as a member of the executive committee (exco) where others on the exco include Ean Yong Hian Wah and Hannah Yeoh who are both from the DAP.

PAS state assemblypersons should not even be sitting with DAP and Amanah state reps. In fact, they should be seated with the opposition, under the wing of Umno.

Face the facts

Iskandar should face the fact that each time that PAS wins an election outside of Kelantan, it is because of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Terengganu fell into the hands of the then-Barisan Alternatif because of Anwar’s Reformasi movement around 1998. Hadi’s performance as a menteri besar of Terengganu was anything but glowing.

For that reason, Terengganu went back to Umno. Even today, Hadi’s performance as a member of Parliament is seemingly not impressive at all. He is the alleged ‘jaguh kampung’ that is hardly relevant to national politics.

I cannot recall even the slightest squeak from the Islamist party president about the major scandals that have rocked our nation. Does he even know that our currency has hit the lowest level at RM4.68 to the US dollar?

The major reasons why PAS came into the picture when Pakatan Rakyat was formed were (1) Anwar was the mobiliser behind Pakatan Rakyat; (2) The late Pas spiritual adviser and Kelantan menteri besar, Nik Aziz Nik Mat, was supportive of the alternative coalition; and (3) People like Mohamad Sabu, Khalid Samad and others, who are now with Amanah, were the PAS faces that we were familiar with.

Now that Amanah has been formed, Pakatan Harapan has already embraced people within the new party. The bonus now is the newly-launched Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) comprising former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former deputy prime minister MuhyiddinYasin, which is also against Umno and Barisan Nasional.

Pakatan Harapan should therefore move on without PAS. As a coalition, it would be more fruitful to work on both Sabah and Sarawak, than to negotiate with people who are not serious about having a new alternative to lead the country.

PAS, the spoiler for who?

Frankly, there is the other side of the argument, although most pundits would not agree with me that PAS will be a spoiler for Umno’s support rather than Pakatan Harapan.

It has always been said that Umno stands to benefit when there is a three-cornered fight. The situation may have changed as Bersatu and Dr Mahathir still command a high level of respect amongst the Umno members in rural areas.

One Malay gentleman whom I spoke told me that in the past, he has always been voting Umno, but looking at what Umno can do to its former president, he, too, is fed-up.

So, imagine a three-cornered fight between Umno, PAS and Amanah. Would PAS always be a spoiler to Amanah? I doubt that PAS would join the race if Umno is contesting. Umno is already facing an internal crisis where its own members are beginning to question the present batch of leaders.

Umno will need PAS supporters to vote for Umno. By putting in a PAS candidate, I believe it will further dilute votes for Umno and PAS. The swing may be towards Amanah, which I believe will get more support from the non-Malay communities.

I believe some of us have placed too much emphasis on the often quoted examples of the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections. These are traditionally Umno seats. At that point in time, Amanah had only been less than a year old, yet its performance against PAS was quite impressive.

PAS will stand to lose in these Umno strongholds. Another good example is Paya Jeras. Its present state assemblyperson, Khairuddin Othman, won the constituency for the first time since 1957. This was due to the support of the non-Malay community and a stronger Pakatan Rakyat during the last general election.

If there is another election this year, I doubt if Khairuddin would even win the seat. He hardly even make his presence felt to the voters. He cannot even be contacted. Whenever a complaint is raised to his attention via email, he does not even respond, or give an update on what he has done.

A number of the complaints in his area are instead handled by state assemblypersons like Elizabeth Wong and her local councilors.

If a Pakatan Harapan person (be it Amanah, PKR or even DAP) is in the race in Paya Jeras, I am sure I would vote for that candidate instead of Khairuddin or an Umno candidate. If none, I would just vote for the local member of Parliament and spoil the vote for the state constituency.

I believe most non-Malays would prefer Amanah than an Islamist party candidate, especially with the current brouhaha over Act 355 and the push for hudud. The same, too, with many of my more liberal Malay friends who do not see things eye-to-eye with Hadi or Iskandar.

Trust me, with the changing landscape, PAS may be a spoiler to Umno’s chances of winning than those of Pakatan Harapan.

After all, between PAS and Umno, who would PAS supporters vote for? A three-cornered fight may not even take place when both Umno and PAS appear to be in the same bed this past one year.

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STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.- Mkini