‘Cutting off PAS a message for voters’
POLITICAL analyst Tang Ah Chai said PKR’s severing of ties with Selangor PAS is in line with the consensus reached by Pakatan Harapan (PH) to cut all ties with the Islamist party.
Speaking to Sin Chew Daily in a report published yesterday, he pointed out that the PH leadership, particularly Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had stressed that PKR has to make a clear choice regarding its relations with PAS.
He said the latest move by PKR in Selangor will ensure that confusion does not arise in PH’s seat allocation in the state and to make PKR’s stand clear to voters.
“Pakatan Harapan cannot be seen as cooperating with PAS in one state and not in another,” he said, “as this would only confuse the voters”.
Tang, former chief executive officer of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, said PKR’s severance of ties with Selangor PAS will not affect the state government.
He said with the 14th general election due to be held within the next few months, it does not make much sense for PAS to try to topple the state government by teaming up with Umno.
On Sunday, Sin Chew reported that the Selangor state government had frozen annual allocations for PAS elected representatives as well as removed state PAS information chief Roslan Shahir Mohd Shahir from the Subang Jaya Municipal Council, in a move that is tantamount to the official severing of ties with PAS.
Tang also said prior to that, Selangor PKR had reservations about cutting ties with PAS and accepting Mahathir as PH’s candidate for prime minister.
However, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali’s tweet on Sunday that he was ready to make way for Mahathir to contest in Gombak seemed to show that Selangor PKR has finally accepted the former premier as PH’s choice for Malaysia’s No. 1 post.