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DAP wants Pakatan Rakyat to relook PAS membership

KUALA LUMPUR — Dissent has begun to show in Malaysia’s three-party opposition coalition, :Pakatan Rakyat, with one component party openly declaring that it wants the alliance to relook the membership of Islamic party Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

Chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) Karpal Singh, said PAS’ credibility was in doubt, adding that Pakatan should seriously consider whether PAS should be allowed to continue its membership in the alliance, Bernama news agency reported. Mr Singh was :responding to recent reports confirming that PAS and the ruling party, United Malays National Organisation (Umno), were in talks to sustain Malay unity in the country.

:His remarks came in the wake of reports that said Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak had suggested expanding the Umno-PAS negotiations, even as PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang sought to reassure its Pakatan partners that the party would not abandon the alliance to join the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. Umno is the dominant partner in the BN coalition.

“The assurance by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang to Pakatan Rakyat partners (Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP), that PAS will not abandon the alliance to join the BN, is not bona fide and is not supported by past events,” DAP chairman Singh said in a statement yesterday. “After the March 8 general elections, PAS had talks with Umno to form a coalition government in Selangor. This was an act of bad faith as both DAP and PKR were not informed of such a move by PAS.”

On Saturday, Mr Abdul Hadi said:: “There is no joining with Umno, none. We are also not entering Barisan.”

:Deputy Premier Najib, who is also Umno’s deputy president, on Saturday suggested expanding the Umno-PAS talks.

:“It should not only be limited to discussions by the party president (Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) but also, if PAS agrees, to cover any issue that suits PAS and Umno,” he said on Saturday. He was quoted by :The Star :as saying the discussions could benefit Muslims as well as promoted better ties between the various races in Malaysia.:

Pakatan Rakyat, comprising DAP, PAS and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR, govern five states — Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. Any break-up in the coalition will result in a change in the opposition state governments, except for Kelantan where PAS has a majority of the state seats, according to Bernama.

On Saturday, PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat suggested Umno and PAS be dissolved and a new party formed to unite Malays.

:DAP’s Mr Singh said yesterday: “Nik Aziz’s statement reduces to nought Hadi Awang’s statement that PAS would not merge with Umno or join BN. Obviously, statements made by PAS leaders of late, give the perception that they are out to scuttle the Pakatan Rakyat.”

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