PAS leaders have slammed an idea by Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali to form a new Malay party as crack-brained, and specially tailored to benefit himself and his patrons from the Umno elite.
“Is he saying there can only be Malay unity if there is one political party or if Umno and PAS merges? Does he really think that Malays have so little intellectual capacity as himself,” PAS treasurer-general Hatta Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle.
Ibrahim is currently the independent MP for Pasir Mas, but he won the seat on a PAS ticket in 2008. PAS leaders have already said they would not field him again in the next general election, and Ibrahim, who is a habitual party-hopper, is expected to turn to Umno for political support.
Struggling for new membership
Perkasa is an ultra-Malay rights group. It was formed early this year in response to an outbreak of violence against places of worship, especially churches, over the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims. Its patron is former premier Mahathir Mohamad and most of its members are from Umno.
In fact, even Prime Minister Najib Razak has been accused of giving Perkasa tacit approval and using its extremist rhetoric as a way to keep Malay support for his flagging Umno party.
Despite being the largest Malay political with about 3.1 million members, Umno has been struggling to register new membership. Many in the community have said they are wearied by its slowness to reform and to refresh its platform of stale race-based politics.
On Thursday, Ibrahim suggested that a new Malay party be established as a last resort if all efforts to bring PAS and Umno together do not succeed. According to him, the new party could adopt a combination of objectives from both Umno and PAS.
“I know this is provocative, but a constitution for a new Malay party that combines the objectives of PAS and Umno can be drawn up by a steering committee,” Ibrahim was reported as saying by Malaysian Insider.
“This is a face saving mechanism so the question of whether PAS should join Barisan or not does not arise. Dissolve Umno, dissolve PAS and everybody joins the new party.”
Face-saving for Umno or PAS?
But PAS leaders shot down his suggestion.
The Islamist-based party has already warned its members not to be deceived by Umno overtures. It accused its arch rival of using vehicles like Perkasa and even certain religious leaders such as Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria to push its political agenda.
“Face-saving for who? It is only Umno who is in desperate straits, PAS is fine. And this is why Umno is running scared. At a retreat earlier this month, our in-house survey showed Malay support for PAS is getting stronger,” PAS legal advisor Hanipa Maidin told Malaysia Chronicle.
“Among the non-Malays, PAS is achieving historical breakthroughs because we keep to our Islamic principles and have nothing to do with racism. Umno knows we won’t leave Pakatan Rakyat, so all this nonsense is to divide us - the Malays. Make them hate PAS and love Umno. This is their type of strategy – it is hatred-based."
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