Islamic party set to abandon opposition coalition
The country's opposition coalition is showing severe cracks after one member broke ranks to announce it was seeking talks with Umno to form a 'unity government'.
The move by the Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), announced on Sunday by the Islamic party's president Abdul Hadi Awang, has sparked an outcry from two other members of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat alliance, the Chinese Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the multiracial Keadilan party led by Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the talks with the United Malays National Organisation, the dominant party in the ruling National Front coalition, were necessary to 'save Malays and Islam' and put the country on a 'Islamic path'.
'We are shocked by the move,' said Lim Kit Siang, veteran leader of the secular DAP. 'Pakatan faces a crisis of confidence.'
DAP chairman Karpal Singh was more blunt, saying PAS had betrayed Pakatan by negotiating with Umno.
'They have to reassess their position in Pakatan,' Mr Karpal said. 'We had an agreement to work together and abandoning that agreement for Umno is simply unacceptable.'
No date for the talks has been fixed, but Umno has said it is ready to negotiate with PAS.
On Wednesday, Mr Anwar met Mr Hadi and Mr Lim for an hour, and emerged saying the problem was a 'minor misunderstanding'. He blamed the government-controlled media for distorting the issue.
However, DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng said the 'hypocrisy' of PAS was becoming intolerable.
'How can they, as a Pakatan member, go and talk with the enemy behind our backs? They have to give an explanation,' he said.
Umno is eager to negotiate with PAS. Umno president and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Tuesday he was ready to meet, but added the discussions must have no preconditions.
PAS was willing to break ranks with Pakatan, analysts said, because it was under pressure from Malay Muslim intelligentsia not to divide the Malay race by backing Pakatan.
Some have been urging PAS to join up with Umno to win back what they argue was lost to the 'Chinese opposition' in the general election.
In that election, opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim brought his Keadilan party, the DAP and PAS together into a coalition, winning fives states and 82 seats in parliament.
