PAS holds the key for BN’s future

If PAS joins BN, it is a walk in the park for BN to win GE14. Therefore PAS holds the key.

COMMENT

There is now one thing that MCA and the supporters of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) are most fearful of – that someday soon PAS will join Umno or BN.

Although this columnist believes that it will not happen soon, one can only be 99% sure because there are two factions in PAS: the moderates or the professionals, and the UG faction.

UG stands for ‘Unity Government’ and this group ‘does not mind working together with Umno’ to strengthen Muslim unity.

This columnist used the phrase ‘does not mind working together with Umno’ but no one can be sure if they will really join Umno or BN. Currently as it stands, they are not joining.

No one knows the full extent of the strength of the UG faction. Who is in this UG group? Well, it is easier to say who is NOT in this UG faction, namely:

1. Nizar Jamaluddin (Changkat Jering state assemblyman, civil engineer, British degree)

2. Khalid Samad (Shah Alam MP, oil and gas engineer, British degree)

3. Mohamad Sabu (PAS Deputy President)

4. Salahuddin Ayub (one of the three PAS Vice-Presidents, Diploma holder)

5. Hatta Ramli (Kuala Krai MP, medical doctor)

6. Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena MP)

7. Dzulkefly Ahmad (PAS economics expert, British doctorate in toxicology)

8. Hanipa Maidin (Sepang MP and PAS legal counsel)

9. Mujahid Yusof (Parit Buntar MP and active in interfaith dialogue, local degree in political science)

10.Kamaruddin Jaffar (Tumpat MP, Australian economics degree holder)

11.Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah (Kuala Terengganu MP, Australian degree in architecture)

12.Rosli Yakcop (PAS economics expert, doctorate)

13.Husam Musa (Salor state assemblyman)

14.Siti Mariah Mahmud (Kota Raja MP, medical doctor)

15.Siti Zailah Mohd Yusof (Rantau Panjang MP)

There are those whose names are omitted due to their ambiguous stand. The above 15 names are listed because they are very staunch against joining Umno and if there is an award for the staunchest, it goes to Nizar Jamaluddin, the former Perak Menteri Besar who lost his seat due to the diabolical and undemocratic power grab executed by Pakatan’s foes.

One can see that the above non-UG list consists of competent professionals. The UG faction are mainly non-professionals.

In PAS, the politics is subtle. There are undercurrents while the game is afoot. It does not pay to be aggressive.

Political moves are done ‘secara halus’ which means in a very refined method so that it goes almost unnoticed.

MCA the loser

“We are maneuvering very hard and in a cunning manner to stake our ground. We are fending off attacks from without and within,” a PAS professional man told this columnist.

On to why MCA is afraid of PAS joining Umno/BN, it is simply because MCA will then lose its clout.

Look at the maths from the results of the 13th general election. Umno has 88 seats, PAS has 21. Add them up and you have 109. 112 seats is the winning margin. So there you are. With PAS in BN, MCA automatically becomes irrelevant.

Another way of looking at it is Umno has 3.6 million members while PAS has 1 million. If PAS joins Umno/BN, Umno has more than enough votes to win the general election when you total up the 1.6 million civil servants and 700,000 pensioners.

And that is not taking into account the uniformed personnel and the teaching profession.

Once PAS has joined BN, it is a walk in the park for BN to win GE14. Therefore PAS holds the key.

This means that as long as PAS remains in Pakatan Rakyat, Pakatan supporters should vote for PAS. If Pakatan’s non-Muslim supporters fail to vote for PAS because of hudud even though PAS is in Pakatan, then BN wins the game.

Of course if PAS goes to Umno/BN, then it is game over for Pakatan. In fact, Pakatan faces a wipe out if PAS goes to BN.

That is also the reason why Umno is very cautious when it comes to negotiating with PAS in the hudud matter.

Umno knows that they have to be successful in wooing PAS over because if it is done correctly and PAS joins Umno/BN, then the future of BN is secured forever.

Selena Tay is a DAP member and an FMT columnist.