PETALING JAYA: A PPBM leader has scoffed at a suggestion that Pakatan Harapan (PH) is afraid the union between PAS and Umno will cause it to lose federal power in the next general election.
PPBM Supreme Council member Tariq Ismail said such a claim showed that neither PAS nor Umno had evolved.
“They are always championing style and form over substance. Like an empty tank, there is a lot of hot air and hot air tends to be combustible.
“Stop looking at the past, stop looking at other people’s faults, and look in the mirror at yourself.
“PAS will never reach Putrajaya, Umno has lost Putrajaya and PH is working towards retaining Putrajaya in the next general election and the one after that,” he told FMT.
Tariq was asked to comment on a statement made by PAS’ Kuala Nerus MP Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, which was published in Harakah Online.
Khairuddin said the fear over PAS and Umno’s collaboration was why PH leaders were making all sorts of shallow claims and allegations regarding the gathering to protest the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) on Saturday.
Khairuddin had reportedly claimed that the gathering would also remind the people of PH’s inclination to abolish the four pillars of the nation, namely Islam, the sovereignty of the Malay rulers, Bahasa Melayu and Bumiputeras.
“To YB Kuala Nerus, no one in PH is looking to abolish Islam, the royalty, Bahasa Malaysia and the rights of the Bumiputera,” Tariq said.
“The only ones to destroy it is a corrupt regime that corrupts the communities with a corrupt mindset.”
Tariq said it was time to look to the future, not to the past and “not to things that do not exist, such as ghouls, ghosts and ICERD”.
“Putrajaya has not ratified it and we should just move on. Do not use this as a poor excuse for a celebration rally on race,” he said.
Tariq further appealed to the Malay community, telling them that what they needed right now were the right leaders with a medium- to long-term plan to ensure that they live in an equitable society.
“We need to ensure that the bottom 40 (B40) become the middle class in the next few years, where their right to earn is not scuttled because of those that are uneducated and uncultured who prefer that those below them are worse off.
“We can work hard if we work together. The Malays cannot do it on their own. The Chinese and Indians cannot do it on their own either. We can only do it together.
“We cannot continue to live in the past and in a cave. Otherwise the future and the world will fly past us.”
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng earlier this week accused PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang of dividing Malaysians by pitting the Muslim majority against the non-Muslim minority.
The “thanksgiving” rally against the ICERD has been given the green light by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for this Saturday.
Mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan said DBKL would only allow the organisers to use the area in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad building in Jalan Raja for the rally, which is scheduled to be held from 2pm to 6pm.
On Nov 23, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying that the Pakatan Harapan government would not ratify ICERD and would continue to defend the Federal Constitution.
Following the statement, Ummah secretariat head Aminuddin Yahaya announced that this Saturday’s rally at Dataran Merdeka would proceed as a “thanksgiving” gathering.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said his party would join the rally to show its gratitude to the government for its decision not to ratify ICERD.
Both Umno and PAS have given assurance that the rally will be peaceful. Some 500,000 are expected to attend. - FMT
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