PAS man tells why his party prefers Dr M to Anwar

PAS’ Tumpat MP Che Abdullah Mat Nawi.

PETALING JAYA: Anwar Ibrahim’s alleged susceptibility to being influenced by forces outside PKR is one of the reasons PAS is in favour of letting Dr Mahathir Mohamad stay as prime minister until the next general election, according to a senior member of the Islamist party.

“We are afraid that Anwar may be influenced by DAP and other parties,” said Che Abdullah Mat Nawi, the Tumpat MP and secretary of PAS’ liaison committee in Kelantan.

He told FMT his party had more confidence in Mahathir because “it seems he is not influenced” by any party other than his own PPBM.

“PAS, Umno or DAP cannot influence him,” he said.

Che Abdullah was seeking to explain PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s recent endorsement of the idea of letting Mahathir continue to lead the nation until Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) mandate ends.

He said another of his party’s concerns was that Anwar was apparently not getting undivided support from PKR leaders. He backed this statement by arguing that Mohamed Azmin Ali’s victory in the PKR deputy presidential race was attained “despite his lack of support” from the top.

“This means Azmin is not alone,” he said.

He described Azmin as “a good man” and said this was the reason he had the support of PAS when he was the Selangor menteri besar.

He also said the power struggle in PKR was not good for the country.

“We want PH to focus on issues affecting the rakyat,” he said. “Because of that, we feel it is relatively better to let Mahathir remain as prime minister until the next general election.” - FMT