PAS predicts Harapan, BN will have problems working together

 

PAS believes that the parties in the federal government will only face conflict in the run-up to the coming state elections.

PAS vice-president Mohd Amar Abdullah said he based this prediction on his party’s previous experience with Umno which ended in failure prior to the 15th general election (GE15).

“(It is) because of our experience with Umno... it wanted a lot of seats, that was one of the reasons we (PAS) couldn’t work with Umno in GE15. Umno wanted to be the ‘big brother’.

“So, I expect the same situation will be faced by them (BN and Pakatan Harapan), especially in the states that Umno once controlled.

“We expect there will be a conflict between BN and Harapan in deciding seats (to contest),” he told reporters at his office in Kota Bharu today.

Mohd Amar, who is also the Kelantan deputy menteri besar, said this when asked to comment on the agreement of all the parties in the federal government to cooperate to face the state elections.

Last night, the Coalition Government Secretariat announced the establishment of three committees including the election committee to formulate a strategy to face the elections in six states which will need to be held this year.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the other two committees are the strategic communications committee as well as the government agenda and political monitoring committee.

“The Election Committee will focus on the state elections that will be held at any time, including matters of seat distribution and ensuring a strong base and agreement between parties including Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

‘PAS will work harder’

Meanwhile, Mohd Amar said PAS expects the parties in the coalition government to work against Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the state elections.

Thus, he said PAS expects to face fierce competition, adding that both PAS and PN needed to respond in the right way to deal with the challenge.

“The competition (now) will be tougher... PAS will have to work harder,” he said.

In a response, DAP central executive committee (CEC) member Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali urged PAS to look in the mirror before commenting about Harapan and BN ties.

In a statement, the Johor DAP vice-chairperson cited PAS’ conflicts in its previous alliances.

“PAS broke into two because the party’s leadership could not handle conflicts carefully, and this caused the birth of Amanah, which joined Harapan.

“Even in PAS, prior to GE15, there were two groups - one that wanted to work with Umno in Muafakat Nasional, and another which wanted to work with Bersatu in Perikatan Nasional,” Umar said. - Mkini