KUALA LUMPUR: PAS and Umno must unite to save Barisan Nasional (BN) should Pakatan Rakyat win the 14th general election, former chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad said yesterday.

“If the BN federal government falls after the 14th general election, PAS should join BN so that it is saved at the federal level,” wrote Hamid in a column in Mingguan Malaysia yesterday.

“PAS must realise that the cooperation between DAP and PKR will sacrifice the interests of the Malays and Islam,” he said.

Hamid claims PAS and Umno’s ideologies are similar, and the only thing preventing the two parties from working together is their respective leaders’ fears that it would rob them of their interests.

“Umno and PAS leaders who are both Malays and Muslims, who would both gain and suffer [the same things], must focus their attention on the big threat before them ...

“They should set aside their differences that were created for political purposes, and focus their efforts into saving the Malays and the position of Islam.”

Hamid said that PAS need not join BN yet, but should leave Pakatan and contest in the next election on its own and govern the states it wins by itself. He suggested that in cases where a state may fall to DAP and PKR, the Islamist party should work with BN to form a unity government.

“At the federal level, PAS can choose to join the Cabinet and sit with the BN MPs in Parliament. Or they can choose not join the Cabinet and sit separately in Parliament like other independents, but in issues that involve the interests of the Malays and Islam, they will support the BN government.

Attempting to show similarities between the two parties, Hamid said many of Kelantan’s syariah laws were actually enacted during BN’s time.

“If Kelantan is ‘more Islamic’ than other states and the Kelantanese want an ‘Islamic’ nation, then why are the Kelantanese the highest number of people who leave their state to earn a livelihood?” he added.

“Umno must also tackle the perception that its leaders are corrupt, it is the main factor why Malays ‘hate’ Umno, whether or not that perception is correct.”

Hamid reminded the public that under BN’s rule, the country has been peaceful and harmonious, and everyone enjoys a high standard of living. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 23, 2015.