Pakatan leaders strive for unity ahead of possible snap general election

By Shazwan Mustafa

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) appealed for unity amid speculation of snap polls, as they gathered here to work out policies and strategies to unseat the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) from power.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng told a crowd of 2,000 at the PR convention that the BN, chiefly Umno, would try their best to “politicise” the ties among PR members.

“Umno will always try to play up the relationship between PAS and DAP. They want to politicise this. They will use the 3Rs — Race, religion and ‘Raja’ (the Rulers) to try and drive a wedge between us,” said the Penang chief minister.

Umno along with its newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, have consistently attacked the DAP and PAS for their inability to agree on several key policy issues — including the Islamist party’s insistence on forming an Islamic state.

Echoing Lim, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang warned of the same threat, saying that PR needed to focus on balancing living and interacting within a “multi-religious” and “multi-cultural” society.

“In implementing the policies within Pakatan states, it is crucial that we be careful and understand the complexities of each party, taking care of the sensitivities of society... and making sure we take care of each religion and race in this country.

“The failure to understand this fundamental fact will open up room to Umno and BN to spread their propaganda through the mass media which is controlled by them. This will only put on a ‘defensive’ mode and this will only confuse Malaysians,” warned Hadi.

The PAS chief said PR needed to always be a step ahead of BN and avoid being stuck in a “responsive” mode.

“We don’t have much time to do all this because the enemy will always find a way to destroy the developments which we had achieved in PR states... all our efforts won’t mean a thing is we fail to show a form of better governance than BN,” added Hadi.

PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail carried on where Hadi had left off, adding that Umno had long propagated the notion that the DAP would rob the Malays of their rights.

“Their biggest strategy yet is to make us fight between ourselves, so that we stray from our fight which has not been racial. They would want DAP to fear PAS because of claims on Islamisation, and would likewise want PAS to fear DAP for ‘driving away’ Malay support.

“Therefore we have to strengthen our resolve. Any announcements or statements have to be made in agreement with the three parties, to show commitment and unity,” she added.