Has PKR become irrelevant?
The existence of a pro-PAS faction in Anwar Ibrahim’s party is not doing any good to the opposition coalition.
Scott Ng, Free Malaysia Today
With his latest outburst, Zaid Ibrahim may have put his newfound party, DAP, in a position of discomfort in its relationship with PKR.
Zaid, pointing out that a PKR top gun was seen campaigning with PAS in Kelantan, told the PAS-supporting faction of PKR to “butt out” of Pakatan Harapan. He said: “Maybe someone in Pakatan Harapan can tell PKR Selangor they can go on with PAS/Umno in Selangor and see if they can win.”
But it is important to note that Zaid makes these comments in his personal capacity, not as a DAP representative.
It has been known for some time that there is a pro-PAS faction within PKR that sees the Islamist party as a lifeline to the rural Malay vote. But since PAS’s separation from the opposition coalition, the Islamist party has become a belligerent and divisive force in politics. It has become increasingly entrenched in religious fundamentalism, a situation that led to and was exacerbated by the splitting of Amanah from it.
Abdul Hadi Awang has since steered the party into the willing embrace of Umno, itself looking to branch out into religious fundamentalism as ethno-nationalism was beginning to produce smaller and smaller returns and a bigger backlash.
