With just one seat, Pua says PAS not factor in DAP’s control of Penang

(Malay Mail Online) – A withdrawal of support by PAS would not affect DAP’s chances of keeping Penang in the next general election as the Islamist party’s presence was negligible in the state assembly, the secular party’s Tony Pua said today.

The DAP national publicity chief pointed out that PAS was victorious in a single state constituency in Election 2013, contributing little to the Pakatan Rakyat’s control over the Penang administration.

“Let me just say this. PAS only has one seat, one seat in Penang. How will we lose Malay votes?” Pua told Malay Mail Online when met at the Parliament lobby.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP was responding to Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah who warned DAP that it might lose Penang in the next general election if PAS is no longer its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) ally.

Mohd Amar told Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia yesterday that the DAP needs PAS to get Malay votes.

“If there is a split in the opposition pact, DAP will lose out,” Amar was quoted saying.

“It is unsure whether [DAP] can defend Penang if PAS is not in the opposition pact. Don’t think only PAS depends on others, other people also depend on PAS in the pact,” he added.

Pua said Mohd Amar should focus on running Kelantan rather than commenting on states run by other PR parties.

“Just focus on Kelantan. Worry about Kelantan,” Pua added.

In Election 2013, DAP won 19 of the 40 seats in the state assembly while PKR took 10. Along with PAS’s solitary seat, they command a clear supermajority of the legislature.

The Penang chief minister is Lim Guan Eng from the DAP.

On Tuesday, DAP pilloried PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for his party’s hudud push in Kelantan, saying it will no longer work with him even as it vowed to remain in the PR pact.

The DAP’s central executive committee accused Hadi of cooperating with Umno on the Islamic penal code, in violation of the pact’s common consensus and Common Policy Framework.

Aside from the current hudud controversy, DAP further accused Hadi of betraying PR during last year’s Selangor mentri besar crisis, when the PAS leader unilaterally nominated candidates other than PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

It also accused Hadi of failing to honour his own pledge made in February that PAS’s amendments to Kelantan’s Shariah Criminal Code Enactment II 1993 will be made available for discussions by the PR leadership.