Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Storm clouds gather, much disunity over unity talks

Nasharuddin Mat Isa and Hadi Awang: Their Tok Guru is not too pleased with them

The rift between PAS spiritual adviser Nik Aziz Nik Mat and party president Hadi Awang is finally out in the open. Nik Aziz today stunned party members by asking deputy president, Nasharuddin Mat Isa, to quit the party and join Umno. The statement has wide implications because Nasharuddin has the ears of party president Hadi Awang, who is also advocating unity talks with Umno.

The tone used by Nik Aziz is unusually strong and harsh, reflecting the high emotions, as he has asked Nasharuddin to quit his parliamentary seat which he "won under a PAS ticket." The Kelantan Mentri Besar also accused Nasharuddin of "causing a lot of problems" and "talking rubbish." Nik Aziz even described what Nasharuddin is doing as "immoral."

Party secretary-general Mustafa Ali, another ally of Hadi, issued a statement saying the talks should include PKR and DAP. It is not clear, at this point, whether the two parties would accept the proposal. It would be harder for PKR which cannot dismiss the sentiments of the Malay support but the question is whether PAS would go ahead if PKR declines. It seems to be aimed at appeasing the allies in Pakatan Rakyat.

In parts of Kota Baru, banners have appeared protesting against the unity talks proposal, reflecting the deepening split between Nik Aziz and Hadi. It will be even more difficult for Nasharuddin, who is an MP for a Kelantan seat, with Hadi getting his support in Terengganu. Both Nik Aziz and Nasharuddin have accused each other of acting on their own, saying their stand did not reflect the sentiments of the party members.

But the bottom line is this - Nasharuddin and his men won most of the seats in the leadership in the recent general assembly, when party delegates were already well aware of their plans for unity talks. Hadi and Nash can claim endorsements and the fact their men swept the key positions would have strengthened their case.

PAS is aware that should the unity talks go ahead, it would put PKR and DAP in a weaker position. The ulamas know they are being wooed by Umno and PKR and DAP. If Umno and PAS sit down, it would be a blow to Pakatan. PKR and DAP need PAS badly because it has the best machinery and structure.

The religious zeal of PAS members, believing they are pushing for an Islamic agenda, also set them apart from the PKR and DAP supporters. Anwar Ibrahim seems to be scrambling to glue the opposition alliance together but the message he would probably get from Hadi is that he should not take PAS for granted.

Hadi wants to play big brother in Pakatan. He wants to dictate the course of PR, not PKR or DAP. Hadi is not used to playing second or third fiddle, The frustrations among PAS members is that they have been taken for a ride.

Many are uneasy with the aggressive nature of some DAP elected representatives, pointing out the antics at the Perak assembly, which they said would not be approved by the Malay community. Some PAS leaders have expressed their unhappiness in private with claims that they have been "sidelined" in PR and that DAP appears to be playing a more prominent role.

The events of the coming weeks would have great impact on the political landscape of the country, particularly the political equation. The monsoon season has come to the East Coast much quicker this year. We can expect more angry statements over the coming days.

14 comments:

malayamuda said...

why didnt UMNO initiate these unity talks at the peak of power in 2004 to 2008 ?

whjy think of unity only when they are weak ?

Anonymous said...

Wah, I didn't know you're a PAS member man!!! So much insight into their unhappiness, never seen you with kopiah one???

Anonymous said...

If Umno is genuine in wanting to form a unity government why didn't they extend the invitation to the PR coalition as a whole but only to PAS?

Don't the two PAS leaders realise that they have been used by Najib to split PAS and the PR coalition!!!

How difficult is it to understand the motive of those Umno????

Is personal agenda involve?

Your guess is as good as mine...

Mike Tan said...

PAS will be pushing the non malay voters away which it has managed to win over due to the their dissatisfaction with UMNO, if it continues to pursue this unity talk thing.

Guess PKR can never form a formidable front to pitch against
the BN.

Anonymous said...

We smell a rat in yr writings, the smell is as bad as umno's real intention - split PR

Anonymous said...

UMNO's new members:
Hadi
Nas
Zul Nordin

Mmmm.....MCA, Gerakan, MIC and PPP, what say you? Your arch enemies are now your new bunker mates!

Anonymous said...

UMNO already found the secret weapon to defeat Pakatan. Just look for a few fellas hungry for money or power, or both. It worked in Perak. Now it is working in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Anonymous said...

Its all smiles,wider smiles among the umno circle.Their agenda is in progress.

Later these hadi,nasa and pa ali are fit in the dust-bins.

creating 2 factions among pas ; pas t'ganu and pas kelate.

Pas kedah will otomatically back kelate.Many will back kelate.

Pas t'ganu will sink in south china sea after the moonsoon cup.

Samuel Goh Kim Eng said...

IN SEARCH OF ELUSIVE UNITY

Unity is always easier said than done
Here today there tomorrow then it's gone
It's easily dispersed like voices out from a cone
What you can finally achieve may be a very bare bone

(C)Samuel Goh Kim Eng - 180609
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Thur. 18th June 2009.

Anonymous said...

Dear WCW, I have a question for STAR. This is off topic from this blog posting, and meant more for you and your journalists. The police made a big deal by posting some pictures of "Ah Long Tai Ko's " and claim they are the head honchos. But it is really a joke. The people posted inthe news were all in their early twenties, and are most likely just rookies and sacrificial lambs. They hardly fit the profile of being the "Ah Long Tai Ko's " controlling the trade. It seems like just another "show and dance" to show the public that real action has taken place. Com'on, I still get tons of Ah Long advertising stickers defacing my shop house. All the phone numbers are there for police undercovers to catch them if they really want to. It is a real joke.

Anonymous said...

DIVIDE and RULE! PAS is so stupid to fall into the mousetrap, but why should we care? You pay for your stupidity. Let UMNO crush them, once and for all!

Peace

Anonymous said...

Aggressive? Come on. You don't manhandle a speaker out of the house. Be objective.

Anonymous said...

Nash is doing what the majority of PAS supporters want. Nik Aziz has lost touch with the mass. He's living example of how PAS manuipulates religion in order to score political mileage. He called and still calling UMNO as kafir because this party works closely with non-muslims in MCA and MIC. But it's prefectly islamic when PAS works with secular DAP. Never mind the fact that DAP has sweared that they will oppose any attempt to turn this country into an islamic state.

Anonymous said...

ha ha ha

lawak betulla you all. eventhough i agree pas do hv prob wt this few people but why hentam kiri kanan.yg buat hal pkr and dap yg mengakibat kerajaan pakatan bertukar tangan, why suddenly accusing pas wt all sorts of unfounded facts.u chinese pls do hv some respect towards pas la,mau macamana lagi ha