New party unlikely to make Opposition any stronger, says PAS’ No. 2

(The Rakyat Post) – The move by several PAS leaders who lost in the recent party polls in forming a new party would not make the Opposition any stronger in their efforts to defeat Barisan Nasional (BN).

The party’s deputy president, Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, said what they did was akin to what former Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did by forming PKR, then called Keadilan, after he was sacked from Umno.

“PAS has been monitoring the development of Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) closely because it can affect PAS, apart from not building a strong Opposition in the country.

“To me, the movement has no added value, the same as how it was when Anwar set up Keadilan. In fact, it would just be in the same scope.

“This new movement exists within PAS. It is not something new,” he said at a press conference before the Mahabbah breaking fast event with members of the media at The Plaza Hotel here today.

Mohamad Sabu, who lost at the hands of Tuan Ibrahim in the fight for the deputy president’s post, earlier today announced the formation of GHB as a new party in the near future, based on Islam.

The new party, with a more inclusive approach towards Islam, aims to be progressive and rakyat-centric, according to Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu.

Commenting further on the matter, Tuan Ibrahim said PAS leaders involved in joining the new party were still bound by PAS’ constitution and strict action would be taken.

“I want to remind all party members that they are still subject to the rules and discipline of the party.

“The rules and constitution do not allow any party members to be involved in other parties, be it to promote its formation or to initiate an effort to pull PAS members to join the new party. This is against the party’s constitution.”