Amidst the ever worsening ties between the DAP and PAS, an activist from the Islamist party has joined the secular party.

Former Johor PAS Youth member Sheikh Omar Ali is now officially a DAP member.

                    

Sheikh handed over his membership form to DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang at a breaking of fast event in Kluang, Johor, yesterday.

Norazimah Mohamad Noor, a reformasi activist, had planned to join him but was unable to attend and is understood to be handing in her own form at a later date.

National laureate A Samad Said , who joined DAP last Saturday, and Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong were also in attendance.

Sheikh explained that he decided to join DAP due to the country's worsening political scenario.

"Issues involving the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), Felda Global Ventures (FGV), Tabung Haji, and Umno's internal crisis require comprehensive steps to ensure the rakyat do not continue being victimised," he said in a statement.

As such, he believes there is space for him to play his part through DAP, especially as someone from the younger generation, as an agent of change.

This is not the first time he has grabbed headlines. He had apparently challenged the PAS central committee, during a Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (PasMa) meeting, to oust PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang before the party's muktamar last month.

‘Best platform to serve rakyat’

Sheikh, a Universiti Malaya graduate and former chairperson for Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia, is also an assistant to Liew.

His latest move would likely raise the eyebrows of many from his former party, as the relationship between PAS and DAP continues to go from bad to worse.

"I am confident that the DAP would be a platform for me to play a more active role in efforts to form a more democratic, just and peaceful Malaysia," he said in his statement.

PAS in its muktamar two weeks ago had passed a motion which had called on the party sever its ties with DAP, leading secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to point out that Penang PAS representatives should therefore relinquish their posts .

Since then, DAP has said that Pakatan Rakyat is dead while Hadi maintained that the Islamist party is still in Pakatan.

Meanwhile, Norazimah, better known as Nora Reformis, told Malaysiakini she had notified several DAP leaders of her intention to join the party.

"My decision is based on evaluating the DAP as having the best platform for the rakyat. To me, there are no boundaries for the rakyat."

The 40-year-old, who is used to spending her nights at the police lockup, is a well-known figure in street demonstrations since the 1998 Reformasi days.