New pact cannot have PAS in it, PasMa says

(Malay Mail Online) – Lauding the so-called dissolution of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) by the DAP today, lobby group Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (PasMa) has again stressed the need for the formation of a new political alliance that it insisted must not include PAS.

Although it was the DAP that declared PR dead, PasMa chief Datuk Phahrolrazi Zawawi said the pact’s demise was largely caused by the actions of several PAS leaders over the past few months.

“PasMa has always made our stand that a new pact has to be formed to replace PR, which has now been dissolved,” Phahrolrazi told Malay Mail Online over the phone.

“Because the dissolution was caused from PAS’s behaviour, so we feel that the new pact must not be joined by PAS, but a new Islamic party which will take PAS’s place.”

Phahrolrazi, who was formerly Kedah PAS deputy commissioner, said he had predicted the end of PR based on the many events and statements that preceded it.

Although many PAS leaders have denied talk of PR’s imminent split, he insisted that all that was necessary to end the loose alliance was for the DAP to announce its exit.

“The PR now is based on consensus, it was not a registered body. So, any party, DAP or even PKR, any of them can announce [the end],” said Phahrolrazi.

On Sunday, PasMa announced it will remain a non-governmental organisation but at the same time, will lead efforts to recruit members for the new party to replace PAS.

In a statement, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng blamed Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for the death of the coalition today, saying the PAS president’s recent actions as well as the PAS Muktamar’s decision to sever ties with DAP meant PR’s Common Policy Framework was broken.

PAS had on June 6 confirmed its decision to sever ties with DAP while still remaining in PR with PKR, after its motion to do so was approved without debate.

The two parties have been openly hostile over PAS’s ambition to enforce hudud in Kelantan.

The development drove DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang to declare PR dead and awaiting “funeral rites”.