IT IS a foregone conclusion that Perikatan Nasional (PN) or more specifically PAS is backing Barisan Nasional (BN) in the upcoming Negeri Sembilan state election on Aug 1.
Leaders of the Islamist party have asked PN supporters to back the BN coalition in order to defeat the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition which is the current caretaker government.
PAS might talk about the need to uphold the Malays and Islam but it is nevertheless prepared to support MCA and MIC candidates in propping up BN.
It is often said that politics is the art of the possible. Nowhere is this truer than in Johor and, currently, in Negeri Sembilan.
PAS and UMNO have finally come together to smoke the pipe of peace in pursuit of a long-awaited rapprochement, something that would have been thought impossible just a few months ago.
PAS might want to support UMNO as a Malay-based political party but such a perspective is overly simplistic and naïve. The Islamic party has broader political ambitions than merely supporting UMNO on ethnic or religious grounds.
An untenable pact
PAS may aspire to capture national power but the path is far from straightforward.
Having severed ties with Bersatu, PAS’ reconciliation with UMNO in the name of Muslim ummah (solidarity) appears more of a partnership of convenience to overthrow the PH coalition which helms the Madani administration rather than one based on sincerity.
Perhaps it has come to the realisation that working with UMNO offers the most viable route to national power in the near future.
I do not think PAS or UMNO has forgotten their bitter and acrimonious past. However, the political expediency of seeking power has subdued PAS’s long-standing anger towards UMNO.
If PAS can cast aside its former partner Bersatu in order to embrace UMNO, then one can imagine the powerful attraction of political power and office.
It is not that UMNO is naïve but if PAS is prepared to lend its political support in the Negeri Sembilan elections, then a formal coalition may well be in the offing.
Both PAS and UMNO are tigers in their respective jungles. At the moment, it appears that PAS is riding the tiger of UMNO.
If UMNO fails to maul PAS, then PAS may well end up carrying UMNO on its back.
However, given the uncertainty of national politics, it is not yet clear which party will ultimately emerge victorious.
It is inevitable that there cannot be two tigers ruling the Malay political world. The ultimate question is which party will emerge as the dominant force?
Former DAP stalwart and Penang deputy chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.
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