PAS to hold 'mega' opposition ceramah, sans DAP and Amanah

PKR and Parti Pribumi Bersatu (Bersatu) will be joining PAS in a ceramah on Monday night, one day before Pakatan Harapan meets on Bersatu's admission into the coalition.

Promotional material for the event, dubbed the "ceramah mega", will feature speakers from the three parties and Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan).

The event will take place at the Paya Jaras pasar malam grounds at 9pm. It is organised by Selangor PAS and the location falls within the Paya Jaya state constituency, in which PAS' Khairuddin Othman is the state assemblyperson.

PAS vice-president and Selangor PAS commissioner Iskandar Samad said invited parties were parties that have “political relations” with PAS.

“Even before this we have invited PKR, Ikatan and Bersatu to our ceramah, so nothing new.

“This time, in view of 2017 being an election year, we feel that we should hold a big event,” Iskandar told Malaysiakini when contacted.

He said the event was an opportunity for the four parties to “present their solutions to the rakyat”.

DAP and Amanah not invited

On why DAP, which is part of the Selangor government along with PAS and PKR, was not invited, Iskandar said this was due to the party’s decision in 2015 to break ties with DAP.

“We have political relations with Bersatu and PKR, but our muktamar in 2014 severed all political relations with DAP. So that is why DAP was not invited,” he said.

Amanah, another party that has members as backbenchers in the Selangor state assembly, was also not invited.

On whether the parties represented at the ceramah would signify a new political coalition, Iskandar replied in the negative.

“It is just a ceramah. We’re not signing an MOU. It’s like inviting people for lunch or dinner. That does not mean you want to marry them,” said Iskandar.

Last week, Harapan secretariat chief Saifuddin Abdullah said meeting on Tuesday will discuss how PKR, DAP, Amanah and Bersatu would formalise their cooperation for the next general election. - Mkini