PAS BEGINS TO EXERT ITS STAND…DAP MAY FIGHT BACK

The war between PAS and DAP is on and it looks set to destroy the oppositions’ alliance or exactly termed as pact as both parties began to voice out their differences openly. PAS former deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa had demanded DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to retract his statement on Hudud, stressing that for Muslims, Hudud was not a choice but an obligation which was compulsory. This is the hardest statement made by PAS regarding the verbal spat between the two parties on Hudud which has continued since the past few months that saw both opposition parties splitting hairs and may not come to terms. And Nasharuddin’s statement, demanding an apology and retraction is the hardest that may see the two parties go separate ways in the coming general election. Nasharuddin’s statement came a few weeks after PAS ulamak council chairman Datuk Harun Taib’s asking Karpal Singh to stop the debate on Hudud laws. Nasharuddin’s statement is reflective of the stand of fundamentalists in the party, which not only differs from the liberals and so-called intellectuals whose idol is Anwar Ibrahim, but contradicts totally the stand taken by Anwar and DAP in the pact. Thus Nasharuddin’s statement cannot be taken lightly by Guan Eng as this has a long term effect on the two parties’ relationship and corporation in the coming general election. DAP has already ‘antagonise’ its partner in PKR when Guan Eng belittle and in fact made fool of Penang Deputy Chief Minister 1 Mansor Othman, which as it seems now being ‘stabbed at the back’ by none other than his own people who are Chinese. So the relationship between DAP and PKR in Penang is volatile depending on how Mansor takes it and in this case, if Mansor thinks of his pride and the fate of Malays that he represents, it is better for him to leave and spill the beans. With Penang being volatile although DAP can easily win back the state with a slim majority given the Malays are ‘returning to the fold’, antagonising PAS at national level may be a big mistake. PAS as it is right now does not need DAP because PAS has never dreamt of forming the government by merely depending on Malay voters. PAS acknowledges this weaknesses since its inception, that is why PAS has been on educating the non-Muslims on Islam such as setting up the Chinese Consultative Council or CCC and then the non-Muslim wing, which angered DAP. And for the coming general election, PAS may just field Chinese and Indians candidates from the wing to contest in majority non-Malay seats…and that will be the real war…despite being a partner in the so-called oppositon alliance . It is just a pact…not alliance.