Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak. File photo
KUALA LUMPUR: PAS will not be weak because of party crisis or is no longer with the other opposition parties that formed the Pakatan Harapan, said UMNO treasurer Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak.
He said although PAS had its ups and downs, the party members were always loyal to the party and its grassroots machinery was also strong.
“Like now, when when PAS is divided and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) was formed, is PAS weakened? I don’t see it that way,”said Salleh in his latest entry in his blog sskeruak.blogspot.my, today.
Recently, there were efforts from Parti Keadilan Rakyat PKR whose deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali held an unofficial discussion with PAS to avoid a clash in the 14th general election to the extent of causing dissatisfaction among Pakatan Harapan affiliates, especially Amanah.
The move by Azmin, which was carried out on the suggestion of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, contradicted with the decision of the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council which held the stand that it would not cooperate with PAS as well as the stand of PAS, through its top leadership which rejected any form of cooperation with any party in the opposition pact.
Salleh, who is also the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, said that looking at the PAS record, the PAS struggle will remain even if there were splits in the party and the changes in party leadership.
He said this was because there was an understanding among its members and the people who supported PAS that it was not merely a political party but also a struggle to uphold the religion.
According to Salleh, a study by Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE), a research body of the Selangor state government, Amanah only received one per cent of the support of the people whereas the director of the PAS Research Centre Dr Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki stated that support for Amanah had dropped to 0.5 per cent.
He said the reason for the decline was that the people were fed up with the attitude of Amanah that was not consistent.
“If that is the scenario, how is PAS after this? Will PAS be buried after it is no longer with PH?
“Looking back at the words of Clive Kessler (through the political book and Kelantan community entitled Islam and Politics in a Malay State: Kelantan, 1838-1969, PAS ís a party based on ‘brain’which will continue even if the leaders come and go. According to Kessler further, what is defeated is ‘the desire’. I am attracted to these words,”he said. – Bernama