PAS and Amanah both extremists, says MIC

Sivarraajh says DAP should also be rejected for having supported both Amanah and PAS

(FMT) – PAS and its splinter Parti Amanah Negara are extremists, says MIC Youth leader C Sivarraajh, who urged voters to reject both parties when polling takes place on Saturday in the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar parliamentary by-elections.

Sivarraajh charged that PAS and Amanah, both Islamist parties, wanted to turn Malaysia into a theocratic country.

He said their aim was to implement stricter Islamic laws, including Hudud criminal penalties – which he said was against the Federal Constitution.

“All Malaysians irrespective of race or religion, who value moderation, will reject these extremists in our midst. There are no liberal factions in Amanah or PAS. Both have the same DNA. One is extreme and the other is more extreme,” he said in a press statement yesterday.

Sivarraajh urged voters in the two by-elections to vote for the Barisan Nasional candidates instead, in order to show that they rejected all sorts of extremist policies.

The DAP, Amanah’s political ally, should also be punished for having initially supported and vouched for PAS, and now turning to Amanah, he added.

“For nearly 15 years they (DAP) supported PAS and then they realised their folly and cut all links with PAS. “Now they are supporting Amanah claiming that Amanah is moderate and democratic. For how long will it be moderate?

“The people don’t have to follow DAP any longer. They can think and reject all extremists.”

The DAP, PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat were partners in the former Pakatan Rakyat alliance which fought the 2008 and 2013 general elections, securing major gains against the Barisan Nasional. The DAP and PAS fell out with each other last year, leading to the formation of Amanah and the new Pakatan Harapan alliance. PAS has since sought an informal alliance with Umno.

The campaign for the by-elections, to be on Saturday, have been a battle for Malay votes as PAS and Amanah seek to break Umno’s hold on both seats, which were vacated in May when both sitting MPs died in a helicopter crash last month.

While PAS has worked towards closer relations with Umno for the “greater good”, Amanah has received strong support from the DAP in attempting to secure the votes of the Chinese community, who form about a third of the electorate.