PAS wants Najib to stay, offers Putrajaya help, says report

Datuk Seri Najib Razak has the support of Islamist party PAS amid calls for him to resign over scandals, such as 1MDB. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 1, 2015.

PAS says it does not want to bring down Datuk Seri Najib Razak and is instead offering the embattled prime minister help to improve his policies, Sinar Harian reported today.

The Malay daily reported PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang as saying the party was not interested in grabbing positions or taking over Putrajaya.

“Right now, we want to improve the government, not follow it or fight for positions. We do not want to unseat the prime minister, but to correct his policies,” Hadi was quoted as saying in Kuala Terengganu yesterday.

He said the party would only consider other approaches, including wresting Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional (BN), if it refused to take heed of the Islamist party’s advice.

At present, PAS was prepared to take on the role of government adviser and assist Umno to change its administrative policies, said Hadi.

“As part of its steps to improve the government, PAS is prepared to send a team to discuss with Umno issues, such as the goods and services tax (GST), housing, the ringgit’s fall, among others,” Hadi was quoted as saying.

He added that there were some government policies with which PAS agreed but there was room for improvement, such as aid to the people, which he said was good but was rife with problems in terms of implementation and distribution.

But he added that agreeing with Umno did not mean PAS would cooperate with the party in politics.

“PAS is more comfortable remaining outside BN, not in BN, and we will not join forces with Umno.”

Hadi added that DAP still needed PAS to remain in power and achieve its goal of ruling the country.

- TMI