Does DAP want PAS in Pakatan Harapan?

By MT Webmaster Last updated May 16, 2016

So if Azmin wants PAS to join Pakatan Harapan then he must first announce that PAS would be given exclusive rights to contest Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar. It will be a straight fight between Umno and PAS. Is Azmin prepared to do that? And will DAP agree to that?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Lim Kit Siang of DAP says that the 7th May 2016 Sarawak state election is not the real barometer of Barisan Nasional’s and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s popularity. It only showed that Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem is popular, that was all. So even though Barisan Nasional did very well in Sarawak this does not mean they are going to also do well in the next general election in 2018.

Kit Siang added that the Sungai Besar by-election in Selangor and the Kuala Kangsar by-election in Perak, which may be held simultaneously, are going to be the real test of Umno’s, Barisan Nasional’s and Najib’s popularity. BN-Umno would need to win these two by-elections and if they do not then this means the 2018 general election is going to be tough going for the ruling coalition.

The argument is that Sarawakians do not represent the real sentiments of Malaysians while those in Selangor and Perak do. Let us give Kit Siang the benefit of the doubt considering he is probably the Malaysian politician who has been around the longest. That would mean if BN-Umno does not win the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections then the future may not look so bright for them.

We must remember that Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar are BN-Umno seats. So they are defending seats that they already own. This means it is even more important that they win those by-elections. But then BN-Umno won those two seats with a very narrow margin in May 2013. So we cannot assume they will be able to retain these two seats without a tough fight.

In May 2013, BN-Umno won the Sungai Besar seat with 18,696 (49.6%) votes against PR-PAS that garnered 18,296 (48.6%) votes. Sungai Besar has 66% Malay voters, 31% Chinese and 2% Indians, while the voter turnout was 88%.

BN-Umno won the Kuala Kangsar seat with 14,218 (50.4%) votes against PR-PAS that garnered 13,136 (46.6%) votes. Kuala Kangsar has 68% Malay voters, 24% Chinese and 7% Indians, while the voter turnout was 84.1%.

It is uncanny that Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar are almost identical in many ways. And we could also say that this scenario is repeated in many constituencies all over Malaysia. So maybe Kit Siang is right in saying that whoever wins Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar can be expected to win the next general election in 2018.

But then in 2013 Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar were a straight fight between Umno and PAS. And Umno did just slightly better than PAS. A few hundred votes the other way and PAS would have won those two seats instead.

This time around it is not going to be so smooth. And that is why today Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali invited PAS to join (or rejoin) the opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan.

Can you imagine after calling someone all sorts of extremely nasty names you now propose that you kiss and make up, let bygones be bygones, and get remarried? And is Azmin inviting PAS to join Pakatan Harapan based on a personal invitation, an invitation from PKR, or an invitation from Pakatan Harapan, which means DAP is also doing the inviting?

We now need to hear from Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Tony Pua, and the rest of the DAP leaders who not too long ago whacked Abdul Hadi Awang and PAS good and proper and said some very nasty things about them.

Let us get one thing very clear. Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar are PAS seats. In 2013 it was PAS versus Umno. Hence Umno and not MCA, Gerakan, MIC, PPP or whoever must contest those two seats. And on the other side it must be PAS and not Amanah, PKR or DAP who must contest those two seats.

Do you get it? This is Umno versus PAS. Anyone other than Umno and PAS has no business contesting Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar. And if anyone else wishes to contest these two seats then it has to be based on three-, four-, or five-corner fights. There are no two ways about it.

Confirm that first and then we can discuss the next issue: about PAS joining Pakatan Harapan.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK