Clean up your act or we will support PAS instead, Perkasa warns Umno
(Malay Mail Online) – Perkasa president Datuk today warned Umno to clean up its act or he would issue a directive for its members to support PAS in the next general election.
Ibrahim said that now with PAS cutting ties with DAP, there is renewed confidence for the Islamist party to uphold the rights of Malays and Muslims.
“We used to attack PAS because of their relationship with DAP, but now that is no more and the Malays have renewed confidence in their party. If Umno doesn’t change its ways, our votes will go to PAS,” he told reporters after officiating the Selayang Perkasa annual general assembly here.
“Even though Perkasa is not a political party that contests in elections, we can be the deciding factor and call the shots of shifting support of our members between Umno and PAS,” Ibrahim explained.
“We will see who can defend the interests of Malays and Islam,” the former Pasir Mas MP added.
Ibrahim projected that Perkasa would be seeing its non-governmental organisation (NGO) increase to one million members.
He said with Malay voters now divided in their support for PAS and Umno, Perkasa’s numbers would easily be a deciding factor in the current political climate.
He said issues under the current government were bubbling over, citing a confidence crisis in the party’s leadership, abolished contract quotas for Bumiputeras, and the unresolved 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue among others.
Ibrahim pointed out that one of the biggest issues currently affecting Perkasa’s confidence in Umno was the government’s stand on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
He said the secrecy of the trade agreement meant that people will only know if their interests were safeguarded only after the signing of the TPPA, which would be too late.
“I believe the TPPA will be their final lifeline,” he said.
Following severed ties with DAP and PAS splinter group Amanah, PAS is no longer part of an opposition alliance, which had moved on to form Pakatan Harapan.
Umno is currently seen as facing a confidence crisis in its leadership, which had affected ties between component parties within the ruling BN coalition.
The confidence crisis most recently witnessed the Pasir Gudang MCA youth wing briefly cutting ties with BN chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
