I refer to the Malaysiakini report PAS-Umno talks - cause for concern?

As a PAS member and activist, I will say this outright - it is stupid for PAS to join up with BN or Umno. I mean after getting bitten once, the right thing for PAS to do is to learn from their previous experience. The last time PAS cooperated with Umno, they were stabbed in the back and the knife is still stuck in them to this day.

Dato Asri called for a Muktamar Khas before the decision to join BN was made. My late father was one of the delegates and he resisted the idea. Of course, he could not overcome the popularity of Dato Asri and the rest is history. But what I’s like to highlight is the fact that my late father was right all along. He believes that Umno cannot be trusted and therefore, joining BN was a big mistake and sooner than later PAS would be betrayed. He was proven right.

True enough, after Umno regrouped and regained their strength, the first on their agenda was the removal of PAS from BN. PAS, at that point was expendable compared to before the formation of BN. They used the flimsy excuse of an Umno branch in Johor converting into a PAS branch. With that, they were able to unite the Umno leaders in their plan to eject PAS from BN.

Everything else that occurred afterwards right to the point of PAS leaving BN was part of an Umno plan. And PAS leaders, being gullible, swallowed Umno’s bait hook, line and sinker. Umno deployed the assistance of every single government apparatus including the Kelantan Palace which led to the Mageran incident in 1978 and subsequently the relegation of PAS to the status of a ‘pariah’ party among the Malays.

When PAS was kicked out, the NEP was at the start of its implementation. The Malays had begun to experience something that they’ve never experienced before making Umno insanely popular. PAS was left without any issues to fight Umno and BN. Even worse, PAS was no more seen as a saviour to the Malays.

PAS was lucky that Umno/BN still allowed them to have their annual Muktamar at the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka in KL after that. Starting from the 1982 elections right about until 1999, PAS candidates losing their deposits is states like Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Melaka etc was a normal occurrence. In short, Umno didn’t just manage to kick PAS out of BN, they managed to ‘kill’ PAS’ relevance among the Malays. Kinda like getting two for the price of one.

That wasn’t the last time PAS got screwed by Umno. Shortly before the 1986 elections, the non- Malay electorate begun to take interest in PAS. PAS leaders suddenly found themselves invited to dialogues with Chinese communities across Malaysia. Dialogues were organised with PAS leaders deep in Chinese New Villages, Chinese assembly halls etc.

At the same time, the Malays were beginning to be interested in PAS again. This was about the time when the Islamic resurgence was strong among the Malays. And at that time, Malaysia suffered from one of it’s worst recessions on record. Naturally, Umno was concerned that if the Chinese and Malays ‘swung’, it would be like the 2008 elections.

So, with the help of Anwar Ibrahim, a ‘tea party’ was organised between the main PAS leaders, and the PM, that’s right, Dr Mahathir Mohammad Iskandar Kutty at Seri Perdana. I can’t remember exactly what was the main agenda of the tea party, but it had something to do with ‘Malay unity’ and the advancement of Islam and all that nonsense.

What was weird is that during the meeting, Mahathir was at a loss for words. He spoke very little and the one that spoke the most was Anwar Ibrahim and the PAS leaders. The next day, word was spread that PAS was willing to work with Umno in the name of advancing Islam and Malays.

The Chinese felt betrayed and suddenly the invitations for dialogues dried up big time. In truth, the entire tea party meeting did not reach any resolutions. It was a mere chit-chat and small talk session and nothing concrete was ever reached.

The other example is the so-called unity talk on Palestine involving the late PAS president and Mahathir. I do not want to elaborate but suffice to say PAS was the biggest loser of that meeting. The talk was organised by Abim and apparently the call for ‘Malay unity’ this time around was also being made by Abim.

Stop believing in all this Malay unity nonsense, please. To think that PAS leaders have been backstabbed so many times by Umno with the same pickup line: ‘Malay unity and the advancement of Islam’ is very weird. Every time Umno is in a bind, the same bait is used and PAS always seems to fall for the same trap.

One will start questioning why? I have a few theories. My biggest theory is that PAS has always been ‘infiltrated’. It seems that Umno didn’t leave PAS at all. After they got rid of PAS in 1978, Umno left behind ‘moles’ or ‘sleeper agents’ that could be activated whenever there was a need for Umno to do so.

These ‘sleeper agents’ will push for Malay and Islamic unity whenever Umno is in a bind or when Umno is in trouble, such as now. I believe this is the main factor. I also call upon Abim to stop calling for nonsensical political agenda such as the ‘Malay unity’ thing. The Malays are united under the sultan. We are always united because we all share the same sultan. So, the agenda is irrelevant. Abim should stop wasting the people’s time with stupid agendas.

Why is it stupid? On March 8, Umno was defeated in five states including Selangor and their two-thirds majority taken away. Now, the Umnoputeras are sweating profusely. They know they need to do something. Otherwise, their way of life will be seriously altered.

So what’s the next step? They must get PAS to rejoin BN and strengthen the credibility of Umno again. That way, Umno will be relevant again and their control of power and resources will be absolute once again.

But Pas now,is more relevant than Umno For the first time in PAS’ history, the non-Muslims are giving PAS a chance. All PAS needs to do is to prove to them that they’re a better government then Umno.

PAS do not need Umno anymore. The myth of ‘one party for one race’ must be blown apart. Having a multi-party system is good for a race, a country, a people etc. It would mean competition and the best would prevail.

I am informed that one of the main forces rejecting an Umno-PAS cooperation is the current PAS President Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang. He is always known to be a man of his words. His argument is simple. Muslims must honour their promises And since we have promised our voters and friends, we must honour it.