“Talking about it is simple. Doing it is another thing altogether. The opposition is not united on many things so how can it come to an agreement on one party, one symbol, one manifesto?” Salleh Said Keruak wrote in his blog today.
Earlier today at the Pakatan Harapan convention, Mahathir reiterated that the only way to defeat the Barisan Nasional was for the opposition to unite and contest under one party, one symbol and one manifesto.
To that, Salleh pointed out that Mahathir’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, and Pakatan Harapan’s PKR, DAP and Amanah all had separate agendas.
While PPBM was all about removing Najib Razak, PKR’s cause was about freeing Anwar Ibrahim from jail and making him Prime Minister, Amanah comprised disgruntled former PAS members who tried but failed to oust president Abdul Hadi Awang, while DAP wanted a Malaysian Malaysia.
Salleh, who is Umno treasurer, wondered if PKR, Amanah and PPBM were prepared to accept DAP’s push for a secular state.
PAS on the other hand, he argued, will want its aspirations of an Islamic State to be stated. “So that would mean, as usual, other than the common manifesto, each party would also have its individual manifestos and even different manifestos for each state, as in the past.”
Salleh trained his guns on Mahathir, Malaysia’s longest serving PM, who had suggested PAS had eaten “dedak”, a euphemism used to describe having taken bribes.
Salleh said Mahathir’s theory that those who were against the opposition must have accepted bribes were similar to former US president George Bush’s slogan of “if you are not with me then you are against me” used to gain support for the Middle East war.
“What Mahathir fails to see is that PAS did not leave Pakatan Rakyat but DAP closed down Pakatan Rakyat so that PAS could be kicked out of the opposition coalition – and when they formed Pakatan Harapan, PAS was not invited to join.”
Pakatan Rakyat, comprising PAS, the DAP and PKR, was declared dead after PAS and DAP cut political ties with each other following a squabble about the Islamist party’s plans on hudud criminal penalties for Islamic offences.