With PAS and Gerakan holding opposing views on the roles that breweries play in funding Chinese vernacular schools, Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu said the party was ready to step in to prevent PAS-Gerakan ties from straining further.

“That is what friends do,” he told FMT.

“If there are friends who are in conflict with one another or are unhappy with each other, it is the role of the friend in the middle to reconcile them.

“So if Bersatu needs to do this, we will,” said Faizal, who is also known as Peja.

Fundraising for Chinese-medium schools became an issue after PAS criticised a deputy minister for receiving a RM3 million mock cheque bearing the Tiger Beer logo at a fundraiser for SJK(C) Tche Min in Sungai Pelek, Selangor, recently.

The tiff between PAS and Gerakan kicked off when Gerakan deputy president Oh Tong Keong said the party would not hesitate to leave the coalition if its allies continue to display religious extremism and infringe on the rights of non-Muslims.

PAS vice-president Amar Abdullah then said the party had no objections if Gerakan were to quit PN. PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari, meanwhile, said the Islamic party might not be able to work with Gerakan in the next general election if the latter maintained its position on the matter.

However, PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar today told Sinar Harian that the party had no plans to reconsider its cooperation with Gerakan.

Leaders of DAP, MCA and Gerakan have somewhat united to defend SJK(C) Tche Min, saying that such schools have limited funding options as they are only partly funded by Putrajaya.

The education ministry has since said it will maintain existing guidelines used by previous governments when it comes to funding for schools.