Country will be politically stable without Umno - PAS election director

 

Political stability can be achieved in Malaysia if Umno and BN are nipped in the bud, said PAS elections director Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.

He said this is because Umno-BN had a tendency to trigger state elections.

"The formula is, without Umno, we can have stability. Any state where Umno has a few extra seats is vulnerable to snap polls.

"For example, in Malacca, their own people took down the menteri besar. Johor too is because (Umno) had more seats," he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian today.

In Malacca, defections from Umno led to snap polls, while in Johor, Umno justified the need for fresh elections because of the slim one-seat majority it had.

Sanusi, who is the Kedah menteri besar, said by contrast, states where Umno has fewer seats are more stable.

"For example in Kedah, we have no problems. So the criteria is simple, give them (Umno-BN) fewer seats. So it's important for us not to let BN win many seats," he said.

Umno only has two assemblypersons in Kedah, and their support is not required to prop the state government up.

This is as PAS and Bersatu have 21 seats combined, which gives them a two-seat majority in the 36-seat state assembly.

Once allied under the Muafakat Nasional banner, Umno and PAS - which is now with Perikatan Nasional (PN) - are set to clash in Johor next month.

Johor will go to the polls on March 12.

Others caused instability

Responding to Sanusi, Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan said it was others who caused instability.

Without naming names, he cited incidents where a party took down its own government after 22 months, changed a menteri besar less than a year after he took office, changed state party chiefs, and threatened snap polls which forced the Johor elections.

These are clear references to Bersatu, which is PAS' partner of choice after largely abandoning Umno.

Shahril also took veiled swipes at PAS for forming PN, and Pakatan Harapan for its role in courting Umno assemblypersons in Malacca which triggered defections and a state election.

"Political stability is synonymous with Umno," Shahril said. - Mkini