Something incredibly funny is happening in the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS – Parti Islam Se-Malaysia). The desperate opposition party is so hungry for power that it was reduced to creating fairy tales that Anwar-led Unity Government has offered it to join the federal government. Even after the government has issued denials, PAS still insists it had received the offers.

 

First, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang made some dubious claims that “some people” had contacted him to join Anwar administration. He made it sound as if he was being forced – even harassed – to join the government. He said – “They keep wanting to meet me about an offer to join the government”. Amusingly, Hadi could not reveal the people he claimed to have approached him.

 

When the story was mocked and laughed by UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who led Barisan Nasional to form the unity government with Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan, Hadi’s deputy Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man suddenly stepped forward with similar claims. But the PAS deputy president’s story was worse – claiming mysterious government representatives had met him and made the offer.

Like his boss, Tuan Ibrahim too fails to identify the government representatives. After suffering “kemaluan besar”, the Islamist party sent a lower ranking politician – information chief Khairil Nizam – to fix the humiliation. But sending a boy to do a man’s job is a recipe for disaster. Khairil now claims it was DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang who invited PAS to join the government.

 

Can the religious extremists get their story straight? At the very least, PAS leaders should have a brainstorming session to prevent contradictions. Was it just Mr Lim alone who made the offer, or some other representatives were involved as claimed by Hadi? Even if Hadi could not identify Lim’s voice as the mystery lobbyist who had contacted him, surely Tuan Ibrahim wasn’t blind when he met Lim.

 

So, why was it so difficult to expose Lim Kit Siang? But if Lim was not the culprit, why information chief Khairil could only finger the DAP adviser? Didn’t Khairil receive the memo that the 82-year-old Lim had retired even before the Nov 2022 General Election? The former Democratic Action Party (DAP) supremo is no longer an MP, therefore, he can’t speak on behalf of the government.

Even if Lim had been sent as representative of Anwar government, which he isn’t, exactly why should PAS top leadership pay attention to the “Chinaman” they despised? PM Anwar has told all and sundry the offer did not come from him. His deputy, PKR deputy president and Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, too has denied Hadi’s claim that PKR had offered PAS to join the unity government.

 

In fact, Mr Lim was himself surprised and flabbergasted when his naughty proposal for the unity government to “cooperate” with PAS has been taken so seriously. For years, Mr Hadi has been accusing both Lim and DAP of promoting Islamophobia. During the recent Hari Raya festival, Hadi declared that his PAS Islamist party will never enter DAP’s “kitchen” due to non-halal food.

 

It’s strange Hadi has suddenly forgotten about DAP’s dirty kitchen when he fantasized about joining Anwar government, of which DAP is part of. Instead of flatly rejecting the offer, the fake holy man has set some conditions. He said any offer to join the government must also be extended to its partners in the Perikatan Nasional, especially Bersatu or Malaysian United Indigenous Party.

Hadi Awang, who is also the Perikatan Nasional deputy chairman, said PAS must be given a dominant role in the unity government as it had the most number of parliamentary seats among political parties. The Islamist party has 43 MPs while Bersatu has 30 MPs. On the other hand, Anwar’s People’s Justice Party (PKR) has 30 MPs, DAP (40 MPs) and UMNO (26 MPs).

 

In other words, power-crazy Hadi wanted to become the premier, or at least deputy prime minister like UMNO president Zahid Hamidi. It appears PAS no longer rejects DAP, as long as the PAS president and his boys are given ministerial or senior roles. If the Islamist party has its principle, it should have demanded that DAP be kicked out of the government before any negotiations can take place.

 

Make no mistake – PAS pretended in its demand for Bersatu to be invited not because of friendship or loyalty, but because it knew by sticking together the opposition parties have a stronger bargaining chip. Hadi, however, must be hallucinating, most likely from smoking some grass, for thinking PM Anwar will surrender the Iron Throne out of the blue.

Exactly why should PM Anwar and the entire unity government offer PAS to join the government, let alone giving away the premiership to the clueless and incompetent Hadi, when the current administration already possessed two-thirds majority support? Even if Anwar-led Pakatan Harapan was dumb enough to invite PAS, both UMNO and GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) will reject.

 

PAS could be trying to create a false narrative to hoodwink its gullible supporters that the party is still a force to be reckoned with, even after its primary source of political fund – Bersatu – has its accounts frozen and seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for corruption and money laundering. It wanted to give hope that PAS can return to the federal government.

 

At the same time, the radical Islamist party under Hadi leadership tried to play hard to get by setting ridiculous conditions so that it could make a U-turn without looking like a moron. More importantly, Hadi wanted to send a message to Muhyiddin Yassin that PAS – not Bersatu – is the dominant party and calls the shot. Bersatu president Muhyiddin has no choice but to follow obediently like a puppy.

It’s not hard to see why religious bigot Hadi wanted to have a second bite of the cherry. His infamous arrogant “Jumlah sudah cukup” (numbers are enough) remark on election night in November 2022 continues to haunt him till today. Both Muhyiddin and Hadi were incredibly confident they could form the government after the national polls that produced a hung Parliament.

 

Disillusioned with the statutory declarations (SD) from 115 MPs supporting him as the prime minister, Muhyiddin together with Hadi stupidly and arrogantly rejected Agong’s royal proposal for both Pakatan Harapan (82 MPs) and Perikatan Nasional (73 MPs) to form a unity government in Nov 2022. They had no idea the new anti-hopping law means individual MPs cannot be bribed and bought thru SD.

 

It was already too late when Muhyiddin realized his mistake and shamelessly made a U-turn and wanted to be part of the unity government after Anwar was announced as the 10th Prime Minister on Nov 24 last year. Back then, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said his party was considering joining the unity government, only to backpedal when Muhyiddin disagreed.

The Parti Islam Se-Malaysia has always dreamed about being in the federal government to enjoy positions, perks and projects. The only stumbling block was Muhyiddin’s ego. The former premier had rejected the royal proposal because Anwar Ibrahim was offered the prime ministerial role by virtue of him being the leader of Pakatan Harapan, which won the largest number of parliamentary seats.

 

Had Muhyiddin humbly accepted his downgraded role as deputy prime minister, he might not be a member of the Court Cluster today. Similarly, he had rejected PM Anwar’s offer to join the unity government because he could not work under Anwar, whom he considered as inferior than him. And now desperate Hadi Awang isn’t going to waste the third opportunity knocking on the door.

 

As preposterous as PAS’ fairy tales might sound, there could be an ounce of truth that someone might have approached Hadi for “cooperation”. It could be like the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed between Pakatan Harapan with Ismail Sabri administration in September 2021 seeking political reforms in exchange for political stability.

Whether Hadi has misunderstood, or deliberately twisted the cooperation as an offer to join the government, is immaterial. Crucially, by coincidence or by design, PAS has made it a huge issue without realizing how PM Anwar can benefit from the uproars and reactions. Anwar has only said the offer did not come from him. He did not say whether his party has sent someone to test the water.

 

Yes, it could be Anwar’s clever strategy to send a message to the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) not to extract unnecessary concessions such as the royal pardon for crooked Najib Razak or more seats that the party can chew in the upcoming state elections. When push comes to shove, Pakatan Harapan can negotiate with PAS or Perikatan Nasional to share power.

 

The UMNO-led Barisan Nasional isn’t the only player in the game and the Malay nationalist party isn’t the only permutation to form a unity government. UMNO, already suffering from its worst defeat in history, could be kicked out of the government if its silly leaders continue to blackmail Anwar administration based on the false perception that Pakatan needs Barisan more than Barisan needs Pakatan.

In the same breath, Anwar is using simpleton Hadi to create a false hope that PAS may join the unity government very soon. Lim Kit Siang was just the red herring, a role which he played splendidly. The strong reactions from UMNO shows they are fiercely against PAS joining the high table. And the vigorous response from PAS shows their utmost desire to join the unity government.

 

Leveraging on both UMNO and PAS, the prime minister can basically strengthen his power base with more cards to play. The best part is the Islamist party is now seen as spreading lies and disinformation, unable to convincingly prove its claim of an offer to join the unity government whilst deepening distrust with UMNO. Hadi foolishly swallowed the hook, line and sinker.

 

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May 31st, 2023 by financetwitter

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