KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali was confident that the party’s lawmakers would not resign, unlike some from their Pakatan Rakyat (PR) ally, PKR, in recent weeks.
“PAS’ struggle is based on faith to its principles, although in the past we have seen how senior leaders left, but members did not follow them,” Mustafa said today, while reaffirming PAS’ commitment to PR and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the opposition leader.
Since last month, three PKR MPs have left the party. They are Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim (Bayan Baru), Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal) and Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri (Bagan Serai).
On the resignations of PKR MPs, Mustafa said it was possible they felt pressured by the absence of financial assistance enjoyed by Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers.
“Opposition MPs do not get financial allocations, maybe — and I am not referring to anyone, — some of them were under pressure as they failed to provide their service due to this constraint,” he said.
“But politicians who wish to contest, to become MPs, they have to be prepared to face a lot of challenges, they have to be willing to be the opposition. If they win, they may not be in the government,” said Mustafa.
He also did not dismiss the possibility of BN’s involvement in enticing the former PKR MPs in order to obtain the two-thirds majority in Parliament, as the ruling coalition had employed a similar strategy in Perak last year to engineer the ouster of the PR-led government there.
“In some places they succeeded, but in Kelantan, they failed,” said Mustafa.
When asked whether the actions of the PKR lawmakers would affect seat allocation for the next general election, Mustafa said he did not expect many changes.
“It is too early to say, we have not started the discussion,” he said.
“Generally, the status quo will be maintained, but any changes will be subject to discussion when the time comes,” Mustafa added.
He also reiterated the party’s stand that PKR de facto leader Anwar would remain as the opposition leader, despite his party now having lost majority representation due to the resignations.
“In this case, only the opposition MPs can decide, it is not for the government or the (Parliament) Speaker choose,” said Mustafa.
PKR now has 28 MPs, equal to DAP’s 28, while PAS has 23. There are four independent MPs and two from SAPP, while BN controls 137 seats in the 222-member Dewan Rakyat.
On the call by PR leaders for the former PKR members to vacate their seats, Mustafa said while their resignations as lawmakers were necessary, he acknowledged the fact that they would be banned from re-contesting the seats if they quit.
“They must be given a chance to prove they have the support, but under the Election Act, when one resigns as MP, he is banned from contesting for five years,” he said.
“I hope the act will be amended,” said Mustafa.-MalaysianInsider
