BARISAN Nasional can work with PAS so long as there are no plans for the Islamist party to join the coalition, said the MCA president today.
Dr Wee Ka Siong said his party, as well as BN component MIC, do not see it as an issue for the coalition to work with a fellow opposition outfit.
“I’ve said this before: there is no problem if BN works together with PAS against Pakatan Harapan,” he told reporters after a meeting of the BN supreme council.
“What MCA is concerned about is accepting PAS into BN… But we are okay with working with PAS based on common values, for instance, opposing the government’s decision to end the death penalty.”
MIC president S. Vigneswaran said his party is willing to work with PAS, given they are both in the opposition.
“Within the opposition, MIC has no problems working with PAS. During the PAS assembly, I was invited to and attended their muktamar.”
He said it makes sense to support an opposition associate in an election instead of the ruling pact.
The Dewan Negara president also dismissed claims that BN components, by working with PAS, support its struggle to establish an Islamic state and implement shariah law.
“So, don’t give us this bull. When PH does something, it’s okay, but when we want to do the same thing, it’s a problem.”
Wee said MCA never entered a formal agreement or coalition with PAS, unlike DAP, which allied with the Islamist party from 2008 to 2015 in the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat.
BN acting chairman Mohamad Hasan told reporters that he briefed MCA and MIC on Umno’s working relationship with PAS.
“I explained that the cooperation with PAS is on behalf of Malays and Islam. The relationship with PAS is not at the BN level. MCA and MIC understand and accept this.”
He said the cooperation will benefit BN as a whole, as seen in the recent Cameron Highlands and Semenyih by-elections, which the pact won thanks to PAS supporters’ votes. – March 8, 2019.
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