PAS THE MAN, UMNO THE WOMAN: WE MUST LEAD FUTURE PACT WITH UMNO, SAYS PAS SPIRITUAL LEADER

PAS must lead any future political pact, said party mursyidul am (spiritual leader) Hashim Jasin, as the Islamist party convenes its annual meeting to decide a possible coalition with its former archrival Umno.

“PAS needs to be the leader of whatever political cooperation, not a follower any more,” Hashim said in his speech to launch the annual assembly of PAS’ Dewan Ulama, the Islamist party’s wing of jurists and clerics.

PAS will ensure that the coalition fights for its Islamic principles, Hashim said, adding that PAS had in the past been involved in coalitions with parties with varying ideologies and struggles.

PAS had worked with Umno to form Barisan Nasional in 1974, which used Malay unity as its ideology.

In the past 20 years, it worked with Pakatan Harapan parties PKR and DAP to pursue social justice agendas.

“But none of these struggles led us to victory or brought us any benefit,” Hashim said.

As mursyidul am, Hashim heads the shura council, which sets the party’s overall policy direction and which decides whether PAS follows what it considers as Islamic tenets.

At its annual general assembly this year, the Islamist party’s senior leaders are attempting to convince members to put aside their historic enmity with Umno and work together to bring down the Pakatan Harapan ruling coalition in the next general election.

An endorsement from the Dewan Ulama and shura council will be necessary for the PAS leadership to rally grassroots members to work with Umno.

Hashim said the Umno leaders he had met were very open towards working with PAS, and the two organisations have held many joint programmes.

“In the past, Umno used to think that their enemy was PAS. In the middle of this rivalry, there were new rivals that have come up.

“Both PAS and Umno have now realised who their real enemies are.

“Now, we have an influx of new members and support for us in the villages is increasing.

“All we have to do is ensure that our pact with Umno is sincere,” Hashim said.

Pact with Umno can get more popular votes than Pakatan, says PAS ulama chief

A PACT between PAS and Umno will win more popular votes than Pakatan Harapan in the next general election, said the party’s ulama chief in justifying the pact.

Dewan Ulama chief Mahfodz Mohamad said this is based on a rough analysis on the amount of popular votes PH received in the 14th general election as compared to the votes garnered separately by Umno and PAS.

PH garnered about five million votes in GE14 while Umno received about four million votes and PAS, 2.3 million, said Mahfodz in his policy speech at the opening of the wing’s assembly in Kuantan today.

“If our cooperation with Umno is successful, 65% of the Malay-Muslim votes should be collected in one bloc.”

In its second annual assembly after GE14, the PAS top leadership, including its influential ulama, are pushing for party members to put aside enmity with Umno and to unite to defeat PH in the next general election.

PAS ulama have branded the PH government as even worse than the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government.

Mahfodz said a PAS-Umno tie-up was giving PH leaders nightmares, and is the reason why the ruling coalition’s leaders had branded PAS as the Taliban, after the feared Afghan militant group.

“This is why PH has called us labels and attempted to scare non-Muslims about PAS, especially now that that the people are angry with PH for reneging on their manifesto.”

Mahfodz lists other reasons why PH must be stopped at the next general election:

Tabung Haji’s lowest dividend rate of 1.25% in recent history.
A DAP senator’s proposal to remove the term Islam from the identity cards.
The unresolved death of fireman Muhammad Adib Kassim during a riot at the Seafield temple in Selangor.
A buka puasa event hosted by Johor Baru MP Akmal Nasir at a gudwara.
The attempted ratification of an international treaty against racial discrimination and one which would make Malaysia a part of the International Criminal Court

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/