PKR, DAP will suffer at the polls if Hadi betrayed, Utusan warns

(Malay Mail Online) – PKR and the DAP could see their election campaigns paralysed if they ignore PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Awang’s recent warning to his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) allies not to “betray” his party, an Utusan Malaysia columnist suggested today.

Writing in his column on the paper’s weekend edition Mingguan Malaysia, senior news editor Zulkiflee Bakar said PAS members will “certainly” react if their allies dared to cross their party chief, even though there are existing factions within the Islamist party.

“Perhaps PKR and DAP leaders view the reminder by the PAS president with cynicism but his party members will evaluate how well the two parties respect it.

“If they see PKR and the DAP continue to take an apathetic attitude towards Abdul Hadi’s reminder then they would certainly react and in this matter, the two parties must understand that a large part of the federal opposition’s election machinery depends on PAS,” Zulkiflee wrote.

“Therefore, it is not likely that PAS members would not rush into helping campaign for candidates from parties disrespectful of their president,” he said.

Two days ago, Abdul Hadi called on PKR and DAP to respect the spirit of PR’s political consensus and to not make any unilateral decisions amid the worsening ties due to the prolonged Selangor mentri besar crisis.

In his keynote address at the opening of PAS’s 60th muktamar in Johor, Abdul Hadi stressed that any form of tahaluf siyasi (political cooperation) must serve to strengthen the Islamist party and work in its favour, and not otherwise.

Although Abdul Hadi did not elaborate on the context, he was likely referring to PKR’s continued push to install its president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the new Selangor MB.

Zulkiflee pointed out today that PAS and Abdul Hadi had every right to issue the warning, saying it was PKR and the DAP that dragged PAS into the crisis when PKR initiated the “Kajang Move” without the Islamist party’s consent.

“All this while PAS have been playing along with whatever PKR and DAP demands and were not even consulted for a big decision like the “Kajang Move”.

“PAS has every right to object to the move as it had dragged the party into the crisis. The Kajang Move was not a PKR matter alone but PAS’s as well as it and the DAP all make up the government in Selangor,” he wrote.

He also said the situation was further exacerbated by factions within PAS, one of which appears more “more keen” on protecting ties with PKR and the DAP than its own party. This has painted PAS as a party plagued by internal strife and unable to sort itself out, he added.

The senior Utusan editor said Abdul Hadi must now prove to his party members and supporters that he will walk the talk by making no further compromises with the party’s allies in PR.

He said anything less would further damage PAS’s credibility.

“If Abdul Hadi has no courage to back his talk, then it would certainly give a negative political impact on PAS because people would take what he said during the muktamar as mere rhetoric.

“We are sure that Hadi is very well aware of this fact”.