PH won GE14 because of Pas, says Takiyuddin
KUALA LUMPUR: The tussle between Pas and PKR continued when the Islamist party’s secretary-general, Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan, took a shot at his counterpart, Datuk Saifuddin Nasution, in relation to Saifuddin’s remark on Pas’ alleged U-turn on its support for Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Barisan Nasional.
Takiyuddin slammed Saifuddin and told the PKR leader that Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the 14th General Election was possible only because of Pas.
“I’d like to ask (Saifuddin) to either stop pretending or take note that Pas didn’t support the (former premier Datuk Seri) Najib Razak-led BN before or during GE14, but Pas did try to work with Dr Mahathir before GE14.
“The fact that Pas didn’t cooperate or compromise with BN during GE14 was evident when Pas contested in more than 150 seats on its own to the point it created three-cornered fights between PH, BN and Pas.
“This was how PH managed to take over Putrajaya after winning GE14, which would have been an impossible task if Pas had supported or cooperated with BN.”
On Tuesday, Berita Harian Online quoted Saifuddin as saying that Takiyuddin had supported “Najib’s kleptocratic government” and changed his support for Dr Mahathir only when the Pekan member of parliament was toppled.
This was in response to Takiyuddin, who described Saifuddin as being disrespectful to Dr Mahathir for his statements against the very person who appointed him as the domestic trade and consumer affairs minister.
Takiyuddin added Pas would continue to support Dr Mahathir as prime minister until the end of his term due to his ability to uphold the positions of Islam and Malays.
“The only reason we didn’t cooperate (with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia before GE14) was because Pas’ condition was not met, being that the cooperation cannot involve DAP.”