UMNO-PAS link - a marriage that come with at a price...

When Najib Tun Razak invited PAS to join Umno for the sake of religion and race, many Umno members waited patiently for PAS to reply. Uppermost in their minds is: what if PAS accepts the Umno president’s offer and, at the same time, spell out conditions that may not benefit Umno or the Malays in general? The core of Umno’s struggle is still to champion the Malay cause and strengthen Islam, while at the same time ensure fair distribution of the economic pie to all races.

However, in the course of its political evolution – from a Malay-based party to one embracing the interests of all races – the Malays have not only lagged behind in many areas of life but, worse still, are split, with three main political parties with different philosophies tugging at their loyalty. Thus, the responsibility rests in Najib to unite the Malays so that they could better themselves in all fields of endeavour. Extending a friendly hand to PAS is one way to rebuild the bridge of Malay unity.

An Umno leader, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that Najib’s offer was made out of sincerity, given that the political divide among the Malays has become serious. He said that PAS, an Islamic party that has been around for more than 50 years, has never made much of an impact in the political arena except when Umno was embroiled in a crisis such as in 1988 when it broke up and when PKR was formed 12 years ago. “Besides, PAS has never had a good run in any general election. So when the Umno president extended a hand of friendship, the Islamic party may see this as an opportunity to put a price,” he said.

But the question is, how much can Umno give away if PAS wants to bargain?
PAS, despite being an Islamic party championing Islamic ideals, is still a political party interested in gaining political mileage and worldly benefits. Political survival is important to the party as it needs to prove to all, especially its allies in the unregistered Pakatan Rakyat, that it is a political force to be reckoned with. It is the only party in the Pakatan that represents the Malays and Islam, while PKR is a multi-racial entity and DAP a multi-racial but Chinese-based organisation.


Political manoeuvring

According to some Umno members, the main worry is that PAS may ask for several seats and states in the coming general election, which means that Umno has to give some of its seats away. “If this happens, Umno’s strength will be eroded as PAS may demand to contest in states like Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and some seats in Perak,” an Umno leader said.

“If Umno gives in, the backbone of the Barisan Nasional (BN) will be weakened. “What will happen then? If Umno rejects the conditions, then PAS can tell the whole nation that the party truly wanted unity but Umno is selfish and insincere.

“This is one dilemma that Umno may face if PAS is to accept Umno’s offer of friendship in the name of Malay unity,” he added. Given such a situation, Umno may have to go back to its members for endorsement if PAS puts “a price”.

Umno members at divisional level are wary of PAS’ political manoeuvring, if the “bargain” goes through. Even a re-delineation of constituencies would not be of much help as PAS would still demand its so-called bastion states such as Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and parts of Perak, a divisional chief said.

“PAS is, after all, a political party whose leaders aim to lead the country and as such, Malay unity aside, the party is still thinking of survival and emerging as the dominant Malay-Islamic party,” he added.

source:FMT

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