AMANAH must court allies with principles and uphold justice and integrity, party president Mohamad Sabu told members today.

The smallest of Pakatan Harapan parties, Amanah must not make political enemies but cultivate more allies who desire a better government, he said at the annual conference of Federal Territories Amanah held at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and broadcast live on Facebook. 

“Amanah will continue to fight for the PH coalition. We must also increase our friends and reduce the number of our enemies.

“The allies we want must have principles, fight for justice for all, and uphold integrity for a better form of government,” the former defence minister said.

Mohamad’s remarks follow his joint statement with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng two days ago, seen as a signal to PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim to stop courting lawmakers from the government to jump ship or pledge support for him.

The opposition appears to be split, as evident recently during voting for Budget 2021 at the policy stage on November 26.

Anwar, who is also PKR president, had given last-minute instructions to all members in the opposition bloc to let the supply pass during voting, by not standing up to call for a division vote.

In the run-up to November 26, Anwar had been claiming the support of the majority of MPs for him to change the government, and was said to be in talks with Umno lawmakers to defeat the budget.

In a joint statement last Thursday, Mohamad and Lim urged PH not to go “chasing shadows” by trying to gain the support of Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs.

They said PN MPs were opportunistic and would only take advantage of PH.

Instead, they said PH should focus efforts on building allies and on seeking a common cause with them, in an apparent reference to Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s party, Pejuang, which has yet to be registered and not part of PH.

Amid Anwar’s instructions to opposition MPs to let the budget pass on November 26, Pejuang lawmakers had stood up to request a division vote, causing the opposition bloc to appear split.

“Our role should be to increase the number of friends and reduce enemies, only then we will get the support of the majority.

“We must treasure our friends while making new ones… in order for us to grow stronger and more principled. Strength will come from unity in numbers,” the Kota Raja MP added. – December 19, 2020.