PAS Information Chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi said although the Islamist party was ready to work with any group which wished to bring about total reform in the country, working with the DAP was a mistake it did not wish to repeat.
“We can’t be with DAP or any party that works with DAP. This is the stand made by the president (Abdul Hadi Awang). We have learned a lot from the past and we don’t want history to repeat itself.
“Until today, DAP is still against PAS’ Islamic struggles and we consider those who are with them as having the same stand. How can we work with anyone who can’t tolerate and understand our cause.
“But we always welcome others who also want to participate in the new form of politics which promotes maturity and harmony,” he told FMT.
PPBM’s Chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad has mooted the idea of a grand opposition coalition to ensure a straight fight against the Barisan Nasional (BN).
This, said the former premier, was because anything other than a straight fight would only benefit their main opponent, BN.
Asked about this, Nasrudin said PAS would not back down from its traditional seats, adding that any opposition party that decided to contest in the same constituencies would be the one which should be blamed for causing a three-cornered battle.
“PAS will contest in PAS’ seats. If someone else enters the battle, then we shouldn’t be held liable. We won’t back down.”
Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) Communications Director Khalid Samad, on the other hand, said that despite the differences the party had with PAS, it was willing to set them aside for the good of the nation.
“As far as Amanah is concerned, we are in full support of a grand opposition coalition and, in fact, we have mooted it in order to fight the BN.
“We are willing to work with everyone as long as all of us can sit down together and discuss.
“But you cannot have a situation where you don’t want to come to the discussion table and you want others to just follow what you say,” the Shah Alam lawmaker told FMT.
When asked about the DAP’s stand and whether it was willing to forgive and forget the transgression it claimed PAS had committed, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang said: “I don’t want to go into the details or the nature of it at the moment, but we are supportive of the idea of a grand opposition coalition.
“This is to ensure not only the toppling of Najib Razak as the prime minister, but also so that there will be no second Najib in Malaysia.
“This can only come about if there are electoral and institutional reforms in the country. That is something that all opposition parties should sit down and strategise on, so that the grand coalition can be formed.”
An alliance was seen in the last general election where PAS, DAP and PKR worked together to retain Penang and Selangor, while at the same time reducing the BN’s majority in parliament.
The formula proved to be successful until ideological differences caused an irreparable split between PAS and DAP, resulting in the demise of Pakatan Rakyat.
The progressives in PAS then broke away from PAS to form Amanah, which is now working with DAP and PKR under the banner of Pakatan Harapan.