Dr M's prognosis: PAS will not do well in GE14

INTERVIEW | The possibility of three-cornered fights between BN, PAS and Pakatan Harapan in the 14th general elections (GE14) has shaped up to be a key concern over how PAS might split the Opposition’s votes and contribute towards BN retaining power.

Such is the worry, that it has appeared to cause rifts within Harapan, where a key faction within component party PKR is seeking to push for an alliance with PAS to avoid such fights despite opposition from almost everyone else in the coalition.

But despite previously commenting that a vote for PAS would mean “a vote for BN”, Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad seems to have come up with a more bleak prognosis for the Islamist party since.

“I don’t think PAS will perform well,” he tells Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview at his office in Putrajaya recently.

PAS has more entrenched support in the Eastern states of the Peninsular, particularly in Kelantan where it has governed for the past 27 years, but that voter base has been fractured by the PAS splinter party Amanah.

Formed in 2015 by former top PAS leaders booted out from the party leadership, it campaigns on a more progressive brand of Islamism.

“Although Amanah is a new party and maybe not very popular, we have seen many people who don’t like PAS (anymore).

“And when they see that Amanah is part of Harapan, they will vote for Harapan,” analyses Mahathir.

He also predicts that PAS stands little chance at garnering support in states on the West Coast this time around. Previously part of the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat coalition, it will now enter the polls on its own without the support of “DAP-supporters, the Indians, and PKR-supporting Malays”.

All this will see PAS drawing the short straw in the event of a three-cornered fight, he said.

“So maybe BN will get lots of support from Malay voters, and Harapan will get some of the Malay votes.

“Votes for PAS will be reduced as the number of Malay voters (left) will also be reduced. I don’t think Umno supporters will support PAS. The Chinese and Indians won’t vote for them.

“So, of the three, votes for PAS will be the least. PAS will lose support in the East Coast, and even more so in the West Coast,” predicts Mahathir.

Contrary to popular belief, Mahathir thinks such fights might even work in favour of Harapan.

“Harapan has the support of the Chinese, and the Chinese vote is not split. So if they give their vote to Harapan, Harapan’s votes will be more than BN,” he deduced.

In the following excerpts from Malaysiakini's exclusive interview, Mahathir explains why he, as Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairperson, rejected PAS’ proposal to form a coalition sans Amanah and DAP. He also sheds light on his long and complicated relationship with the party.

The interview has been edited for language and brevity.

You said in your blog last week that PAS had laid down some conditions for it to cooperate with Bersatu. What were the conditions?

They wanted us to form another coalition. They asked us to do away with DAP, do away with Amanah before they could join together with Bersatu and PKR.

We could not do that. We could not be part of two coalitions with different parties.

We could not contest in one area saying we support PAS but contest in other areas saying we do not support PAS.

Even an election pact would not work because if PAS were to contest one-on-one in one area but  contest in a three-cornered fight (with Harapan and BN) in another area, that would not work. So it is not workable.

PAS has in the past few months made you “enemy number one”. What is your response to that?

Yeah, even from before I was their enemy number one.

They used to say I did things that were against the teachings of Islam, but when I asked them to show me what the things were, they could not answer me. Even now, they have not been able to answer me.

In the past, they said if anyone worked together with non-Muslims, they were kafir (infidels). But then they went on to work with the DAP, so they are kafir lah.
But now, they have decided to be Islamic again.

So their interpretation of religion follows their political interests.

When they were angry at me, I accused PAS of not being an Islamic party. PAS is a party that uses Islam, and it uses Islam in a way that is not right. 

If it used Islam in the right way, then it would be okay. But when they call me a kafir, what right do they have to call me a kafir? In the Quran it is forbidden to call Muslims kafir, unless I worship other Gods and all that.

But PAS has been calling people kafir to the point that they are even willing to make their parents kafir and willing to kill people who are not Muslim.

That is what happened in the Memali tragedy.

Memali happened because of Amanat Hadi (a series of public talks given in the 1980s by Hadi Awang, the current PAS president) that said those who died trying to overthrow a kafir government were mati syahid (dying a martyr’s death).

And that is what happened to the people of Memali. - Mkini