PAS on the wane in Kelantan, says Ku Li

 

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah says PAS which has been in power in Kelantan since 1990 has failed to do much with even basic facilities lacking. (Facebook pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah believes that the days are numbered for PAS in Kelantan because of the party’s “horrible” track record in governing the state for more than 30 years.

He said PAS had been in power since 1990, but failed to do much, with even basic facilities lacking, such as clean water supply.

“And there’s no development. If not for the state being a member of the federation (of Malaysia), a lot of the people in Kelantan will be unemployed. Now, people escape from Kelantan and come to work here (in Kuala Lumpur),” he said in an interview with FMT.

“So every Hari Raya or school holiday season, you find the highway chock-a-block all the way to Kota Bharu because of people returning from KL and elsewhere.

“I think PAS’ days are numbered in Kelantan. If the people come to their right senses and are not emotionally taken by the party’s appeal, then they can see better days ahead,” he said.

When asked why PAS had successfully retained power in the state since 1990, he said it was probably due to the conservative values held by voters there who felt “safe with PAS though they do nothing”.

Muafakat Nasional a dead letter

Tengku Razaleigh, who has been Gua Musang MP for 11 terms, was the former chairman of Umno’s advisory council. He said his party’s Muafakat Nasional pact with PAS was a dead letter, claiming that the handshakes shared by party leaders did not reflect the reality on the ground.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

“Down there they’re fighting like cats and dogs. I cannot see how they’re gonna get together, because they depend on Malay votes, and each party is vying for more Malay votes. They will continue fighting.”

He said the push for Umno to keep the door open to PAS through MN was mostly coming from figures in the west coast of the peninsula, whom he claimed did not understand the sentiments of grassroots on the east coast.

Tengku Razaleigh said he had campaigned for PAS under Semangat 46, the Umno splinter that became defunct after the 1995 general election and claimed to understand PAS “very well”,

He said it would be a mistake for Umno to “go to bed” with PAS as the Islamic party could simply end up trying to shore up support for itself.

He said this happened in the past when Barisan Nasional was first set up, as he was the key figure tasked with roping PAS into the coalition.

“But that was not to be because they abused their positions in the federal government and tried to convert our people on the ground from being members of our parties to members of their party.

“This happened in a widespread manner all over the land settlement schemes. and that contributed to the breakup between PAS and Umno, soon after the formation of BN.

“It’s just greed. They wanted more, and they wanted to entrench themselves,” said Tengku Razaleigh. - FMT