BN may be power crazy, but PAS is worse, says Perak MB

Saarani Mohamad says the Islamic party ‘backstabbed’ Barisan Nasional in the state following the 2018 general election.

(FMT) – Perak menteri besar Saarani Mohamad admits that Barisan Nasional (BN) may be “power crazy”, but PAS is worse, citing the time the Islamic party betrayed the coalition after the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018.

Saarani, who is also an Umno Supreme Council member, said the main objective of any political party was to govern either at the state or federal level, Utusan Malaysia reported.

He said that in GE14, BN won 27 of the 59 state seats in Perak, all secured by Umno, while PAS managed to win three seats, thus making it possible for both parties to form the state government.

Umno, he said, had agreed to all of PAS’s requests to form the state government, including giving its assemblymen posts in the executive council.

“Is this the type of party we should ally ourselves with just because they are championing Islam?” he was quoted as saying.

Saarani also said in GE15 last November, BN was approached by PAS to form an “Islamic government” after the coalition only managed to win nine state seats.

However, BN was not offered anything in return, he said.

DAP, meanwhile, agreed to respect Umno’s cause and also agreed not to raise the matter of the land ownership titles for 999 years to new villages, he said.

“And that’s what happened in Perak where we became the first state to form a unity government with Pakatan Harapan after the 15th general election,” he said.