It’s us or PAS, DAP MP tells Azmin

By MT Webmaster Last updated Sep 10, 2015

(Malay Mail Online) – PKR deputy president Azmin Ali must take a clear stand on whether his party will continue to work with PAS as this will determine the makeup of the new opposition coalition that will replace the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat (PR), a DAP lawmaker said today.

Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh said Azmin cannot simply dismiss concerns raised by DAP’s leadership over the latter’s apparent preference to continue working with the Islamist opposition party.

“PAS had severed ties with the DAP in no uncertain terms. There can be no question of working with both DAP and PAS at the same time as common sense would dictate there no longer exists a working relationship between the two,” Ramkarpal said in a statement.

Ramkarpal said Azmin, who is also Selangor mentri besar, must consider the “harsh realities” of working with PAS, which the DAP leader claimed would “very likely” contest against its two former partners come the 14th general election.

Ramkarpal claimed further that it was PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang who was responsible for the breakup of PR and the recent mass exodus from his own party of so-called progressive leaders, who have gone on to create Parti Amanah Negara.

The DAP man stressed that Abdul Hadi even said that PAS will not take part in a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and that PAS members are not barred from joining a September 16 counter-rally to the Bersih 4 demonstrations over the past Merdeka weekend.

“In the circumstances, I urge Azmin to definitively state if PKR is committed to work with PAS in the event a new opposition coalition is formed, in which case, there would be an urgent need to reconsider the members of the said new coalition.

“That the relationship between PAS and DAP is now irreconcilable is very much a reality which Azmin and PKR must accept.

“Azmin must decide which of the two he chooses to work with in the future as it is clear that there cannot be a realistic alliance between PAS and DAP any longer,” Ramkarpal said.