ALOR STAR, Jun 18 – PAS has admitted to facing difficulty in winning support from non-Muslims, especially the Chinese, after ending its “tahaluf siyasi” or political cooperation with DAP in the opposition pact. PAS Central Working Committee member, Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz, however, said this difficult challenge would only be temporary although the discord between the two parties had reached a point of no return.
“The only thing occurring is the ‘fire’ ignited by DAP to prevent the support of non-Muslims for PAS, but this can easily be doused with ‘water’ by us in the PAS Youth wing as we have good relations with non-Muslims. Although the parties (PAS and DAP) have severed ties, our personal relationships remain. This means that the claim by certain quarters that PAS would take a thousand years to win Chinese support is inaccurate, as we will take a shorter time to win back their support.
“It’s just we admit that in the 14th general election (GE14), we won’t be getting the kind of support (from non-Muslims) like we had in the 13th general election,” he told a press conference after a dialogue session on the party president’s policy speech at the Kedah PAS Complex, here, yesterday.
However, Nik Mohamad Abduh also believed that in PAS’ strength in facing GE14 due to solid support from the party supporters’ group, Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS (DHPP), comprising non-Muslims, as well as from Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan) .
“We already have a front, Gagasan Sejahtera, through political cooperation with Ikatan. Also Ikatan has members who include Chinese and Indians, while PCM (Parti Cinta Malaysia) in Penang has voiced its interest in joining Gagasan Sejahtera but this is still under discussion,” he said. — Bernama
