DON'T GET SWELL-HEADED! PAS would be annihilated in snap polls - ex Selangor MB Mat Taib warns

KUALA LUMPUR - An independent PAS could lose up to 10 state seats in Selangor if snap polls are called to resolve the state leadership crisis, warned former mentri besar Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib.

Muhammad, who is now deputy chairman of the PAS information and media relations bureau, said the party’s previous wins in mixed parliament and state seats nationwide hinged on the support of Chinese voters, the country’s second largest ethnic group.

Speaking at a forum yesterday, he said the Islamist party won largely because of its partnership with DAP and PKR in Pakatan Rakyat pact.

“If PAS reconsiders its position, PAS will lose big in Selangor. If state election are called, I expect PR to win but PAS will lose, at least, 10 seats,” said Muhammad, who joined the PAS last year after a fallout with the Islamist party’s archrival, Umno.

Muhammad pointed out that in Election 2013, PAS won by slim margins in 10 of the 15 state seats.

Cautioning its representatives against self-delusion, Muhammad added that “the Chinese will no longer vote PAS” if the party changed its position with regards to PR.

“We have to be careful and be practical when it comes to the state of voters. PAS has the credibility among the Chinese voters, don’t ruin it.

“If there are views that PAS and Umno could join forces to administer the state government, it is only temporary. Umno is weak and it will resort anything,” he said, adding that Umno will attempt to “squeeze” PAS in the event it takes control of the country’s richest state.

Former Selangor mentri besar Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib

PAS has stood apart from its allies in the ongoing Selangor mentri besar crisis, at times prolonging the issue.

PKR and DAP have vouched support for Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail as a sole candidate to replace the ousted Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, but PAS is adamant on an alternative.

The issue had seemed moot when the Sultan of Selangor instructed all three parties to nominate at least three candidates each for his consideration by September 3.

But PKR and DAP later insisted on Dr Wan Azizah alone, renewing the clash with PAS who wants to put Azmin Ali and another PKR lawmaker up for the ruler to choose. -Malay Mail