Schism in PKR as leaders fear Pakatan Harapan will scuttle peace talks with PAS
(MMO) – Any hostilities between Pakatan Harapan and PAS would lead to PKR becoming the main victim.
Despite denials by PKR’s top leaders, Pakatan Harapan’s launch last month has left some party members fearing that the haste in formalising the new coalition could potentially harm their ties with PAS.
Shortly after the announcement on September 22, 25 PKR central committee members signed a petition demanding a special meeting this Sunday to discuss the issue of Pakatan Harapan’s formation, which they believe was rushed and made to seem as if the new coalition was not interested in preserving ties with Islamist PAS.
“The issue now is no longer the formation, it (Pakatan Harapan) has already been formed so we need to discuss a follow-up strategy, how to preserve the unity, peace with all the opposition parties.
“Fact is, we still want the autonomy to be able to continue discussions with PAS,” PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
The Batu MP was one of the 25 PKR leaders who signed the petition.
Chua said what the 25 leaders wanted to reaffirm was PKR’s commitment to DAP and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) as well as the need for Pakatan Harapan to be open to future participation of PAS and other political parties such as PSM and those from East Malaysia.
“But the unfortunate situation now is that even though Dr Wan Azizah has maintained an open approach to working with PAS, the other two parties (DAP and Amanah) have been firing attacks against PAS, making it even more difficult to us to maintain channels for talks,” Chua explained, referring to PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
