GE14: Don’t dream of forming government, experts tell PAS

PETALING JAYA: PAS’ decision to seek a partner in forming the federal government after the 14th general election (GE14) shows it has accepted the reality of the situation on the ground, say experts.

DAP member and constitutional law expert, Abdul Aziz Bari and political analyst Azizuddin Mohd Sani said this showed that PAS was not strong enough to form a government on its own, and that it should stop “dreaming” of winning big in GE14 unless it works with other parties.

Aziz said PAS could even lose its grip on Kelantan if it does not enter into an alliance with other political parties.

“In GE13, it won seats in Selangor because it was with Pakatan Rakyat. Not so much on its own.

“When it won Terengganu in the 1999 general election, it was because of the Reformasi era but, of course, it refuses to accept that. It is still dreaming it is strong.

“It will not happen,” Aziz told FMT.

He was responding to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s announcement yesterday that he did not exclude the possibility of the party joining forces with another political party to form the federal government after GE14.

Hadi also said PAS was aiming to run in at least 130 of the 222 parliamentary constituencies.

“We want to form the government or team up to form the government, and not just be a weak opposition after the election,” he said, without revealing which party PAS was planning to cooperate with.

Aziz said based on the nation’s polling history, the party’s aim could be unrealistic as it had failed to garner the Malay support, even before other political parties like PKR, PPBM and Amanah were set up.

“The Malays have not really been supporting PAS. Even when it was just PAS and Umno, the most it could muster was 25%-30% of Malay votes,” he said.

He warned that PAS could lose Kelantan as Umno was going all out to win there, with Amanah also “working hard to make inroads in Kelantan and Terengganu”.

He said PAS was hoping to gain traction with its private member’s bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355) to allow shariah courts to mete out higher penalties.

However, he added, the bill “might be brought back and forth between PAS and the Barisan Nasional (BN) government”.

“It just shows that PAS will not be able to get support on its own.”

In October 2017, PAS rejected Umno’s suggestion of forming an electoral pact for GE14.

Its secretary-general, Takiyuddin Hassan, said the party would remain independent and work as a third force to the ruling party and the opposition.

“Umno is not the choice at the moment for cooperation in the upcoming election,” he had said, adding that the same went for other political parties.

Takiyuddin said the party was not fighting only for power, but to continue its principles and struggles according to Islam.

PAS has been in power in Kelantan since 1990.

‘PAS may lose Kelantan’

Azizuddin, an analyst with Universiti Utara Malaysia, said PAS may lose in all states if it does not work with Pakatan Harapan (PH) or BN.

“Of course, they can contest in any seat they want. But it is impossible to form a government if they stand alone. They have to work with others,” he said.

Although PAS had its strengths in Kelantan, he added, Umno and Amanah were also working hard to win over voters.

“PAS does have rural Malay support. In urban areas, there are some Malays who support the party but this is not enough for PAS to win. It has to work with other parties.”

DAP deputy secretary-general Teresa Kok meanwhile said PAS may team up to form a government with BN after GE14.

“The only party which will want to work with PAS is Umno,” she said, adding however that there would be much opposition from BN component parties if the possibility arose. -FMT