Out you go, PAS

No one is indispensable. Now, with the sudden turnaround by Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali, all three PAS state exco members apparently have to vacate their posts, or face the axe.

It would be more detrimental to PAS if all three of them were sacked, because most Selangorians like me are already unhappy with PAS’ antics in the past three years. We cannot wait for Azmin to drop these three state exco members.

Their positions can be either filled by Amanah candidates or left vacant until the next general election. After all, there are not many months to go and Amanah candidates should now focus their efforts on winning their seats.

The truth is that PAS cannot claim that it had the mandate of the people when they were elected as state assemblypersons, because the mandate was given by the people of Selangor to Pakatan Rakyat.

PAS in the past different from PAS now

Besides, what we knew of PAS in the past were people like Mohamad Sabu, Khalid Samad, Mujahid Yusof Rawa, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and the late Nik Aziz Nik Mat. Not many people even had any inkling of who Hadi Awang was until the passing of party spiritual adviser Nik Aziz Nik Mat, even though he had been PAS president since 1989 following the demise of Fadzil Noor.

Most of these former PAS leaders are now with Amanah. What is left of PAS are people in the likes of Nik Abduh Nik Aziz, Hadi and mostly the ulama faction.

Now, Pakatan Rakyat is dead - all because of the PAS president who created an unpleasant scenario when former Selangor menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim was being replaced. Instead of blaming others, Hadi should be pointing the accusing finger at himself.

Hadi is known to be a ‘flop’ where his political career is concerned. After riding on the Barisan Alternatif days and becoming the menteri besar of Terengganu, he nearly lost his own constituency in the 2004 general election.

If not for former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Reformasi movement, PAS would never have taken over Terengganu in 1999. After it left Barisan Alternatif, PAS was seemingly no longer relevant.

Today, with Hadi pushing for the amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) (Act 355), support for PAS from non-Muslim and some Muslim voters has diminished. It is unlikely that PAS will be able to win the number of seats that it won in the last two general elections.

As former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad rightly pointed out, PAS will perform badly if it decides to contest alone in the 14th general election.

PAS can only be a spoiler

PAS should not forget that in 1986, it had only won one parliamentary seat. This is the general attitude of the Malaysian population against Hadi’s party.

After PAS departed from Pakatan Rakyat, and causing it to become defunct, most people’s attitude towards PAS apparently remains the same as before 2008.

My prediction is that if PAS goes into a three-cornered fight, it will not win the seat but will also affect Umno’s chances of winning the seat.

We should not forget that now with Amanah and Bersatu in the picture, both PAS and Umno are apparently weakened.

With the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal in the forefront, most Malaysians’ confidence in Umno and Barisan Nasional, and in particular, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, would have reached rock bottom.

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STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.- Mkini