What a joke, Iskandar!

COMMENT PAS was absent during the official launch of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) recently “because Amanah and DAP were there”.

This sounds like the biggest joke by Iskandar Abdul Samad, a PAS vice-president. He and his president, Abdul Hadi Awang, would rather be seen with the Malaysian Official 1 (MO1), who has been identified by the US Department of Justice as a kleptocrat, supposedly championing the cause of the Rohingyas.

It is also strange that Iskandar is still in the Selangor state government as a member of the executive committee (exco) where others on the exco include Ean Yong Hian Wah and Hannah Yeoh who are both from the DAP.

PAS state assemblypersons should not even be sitting with DAP and Amanah state reps. In fact, they should be seated with the opposition, under the wing of Umno.

Face the facts

Iskandar should face the fact that each time that PAS wins an election outside of Kelantan, it is because of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Terengganu fell into the hands of the then-Barisan Alternatif because of Anwar’s Reformasi movement around 1998. Hadi’s performance as a menteri besar of Terengganu was anything but glowing.

For that reason, Terengganu went back to Umno. Even today, Hadi’s performance as a member of Parliament is seemingly not impressive at all. He is the alleged ‘jaguh kampung’ that is hardly relevant to national politics.

I cannot recall even the slightest squeak from the Islamist party president about the major scandals that have rocked our nation. Does he even know that our currency has hit the lowest level at RM4.68 to the US dollar?

The major reasons why PAS came into the picture when Pakatan Rakyat was formed were (1) Anwar was the mobiliser behind Pakatan Rakyat; (2) The late Pas spiritual adviser and Kelantan menteri besar, Nik Aziz Nik Mat, was supportive of the alternative coalition; and (3) People like Mohamad Sabu, Khalid Samad and others, who are now with Amanah, were the PAS faces that we were familiar with.

Now that Amanah has been formed, Pakatan Harapan has already embraced people within the new party. The bonus now is the newly-launched Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) comprising former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former deputy prime minister MuhyiddinYasin, which is also against Umno and Barisan Nasional.

Pakatan Harapan should therefore move on without PAS. As a coalition, it would be more fruitful to work on both Sabah and Sarawak, than to negotiate with people who are not serious about having a new alternative to lead the country.