Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s proposal for a unity government is a fantasy and will not resolve the internal crisis within PAS and Umno, political analyst Ibrahim Suffian said.

The director of independent pollster Merdeka Center said the real problem facing the two parties was in the leadership’s failure to address the needs of certain party members, and a unity government would not solve this.

Ibrahim said a unity government would only provide temporary relief for the parties until the next general election.

“Datuk Seri Najib Razak is facing pressure from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) issue while Hadi is facing a potential split in PAS because he has been snubbing Pakatan Rakyat,” said Ibrahim.

In an interview with Singapore’s Today last week, Abdul Hadi had blamed the political uncertainties in Malaysia on Umno, and proposed that “a correction can be made” through the formation of a unity government involving all major political parties and no opposition.

“What is happening is due to the weakness of Umno itself. It’s not due to Dr Mahathir, Najib, or Abdullah Badawi,” Abdul Hadi was quoted as saying in Today. He first proposed the idea in 2008, after a series of by-elections led him to call on lawmakers to focus on serving the people instead. However, PAS leaders were quick to oppose his proposal back then, with vice-president Datuk Husam Musa likening it to sending an ambulance to a dying Umno, after having tried to kill the party all this while.

PAS veteran leader Datuk Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah said Abdul Hadi’s idea was no different from Lim Kit Siang’s recently proposed bipartisan pact to “Save Malaysia”, which Abdul Hadi’s supporters had already opposed.

Ibrahim said it was almost impossible that Barisan Nasional and Umno would form a unity government with PR, as it would only benefit the opposition. — The Malaysian Insider

 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 5, 2015.

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