MP SPEAKS | The year was 2008. The rallying cry was 'PAS for All'. Here the party promoted the idea of justice, truth and welfare for all Malaysians.

The then-inclusive party also realised the importance of coalition-building with one aim amongst all parties: take down Umno and right the wrongs in this country.

Two elections down, we see a party that has stripped itself of all ethics and virtues that it had held precious.

Today, PAS wants to tango with Umno and betray the people who voted them as part of the opposition coalition against BN in both the 12th and 13th general elections.

What had brought about this change, one may ask? What compelled party president Abdul Hadi Awang to forgo his agenda for reform and instead align PAS with its former sworn enemy, Umno?

The answer lies in the Islamist party's greed for power through a play of religion on politics - by promoting Islam and syariah law, and perceiving all other religions as its subordinates.

Or as one may say, by pitting the Muslims against citizens from other religions.

Muslim vote trump card

Hadi's Islamic agenda did not work with the opposition coalition, which sticks to a common goal of a secular state, leading to the Islamist party's exclusion.

It would seem Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has cleverly manipulated the rift to fracture the opposition.

But PAS believes it is one up, as Umno and Najib cannot afford to shrug off PAS' fundamentalist Islamic ideologies and, in the process, alienate its largest vote bank: the Malay Muslims.

PAS and Hadi continue to play sycophants to entrench their relationship with Umno. One need not look beyond the recently-concluded high-level PAS muktamar to figure out the client-patron relationship between Umno and the Islamist party.

The only winner at the high-profile meeting was Najib, who has been dangling carrots before Hadi with regards to his private member's bill, which aims to empower state legislation to increase syariah punishment.

The prime minister would have been relieved, as the PAS muktamar was conspicuously silent about his role in the financial scandal involving a sovereign fund headed by the prime minister, amounting to billions of dollars.

To curry favour with Najib, PAS has thrown its support behind Umno while claiming to go solo, and has predicted a sweeping win for its party.

To ensure its victory, PAS has neither breathed a word about any of the scandals plaguing this nation, nor raise any questions about the struggles Malaysians are facing trying to put food on the table for their families, sending their kids to school or trying to stay afloat despite the debt we find ourselves in.

Time to rip off band-aid

Heading into the 14th general election, the battle lines have been drawn.

On one side are Umno and PAS, promoting corruption and no solutions to the pressing issues faced by Malaysians. And on the other, the opposition parties offering a new beginning for Malaysians after 60 years of suffering.

As such, keeping PAS in the fold any longer will do the opposition no good.

The reality is this: there will be multi-cornered fights at the next elections, engineered by PAS.

The sooner the opposition parties cut out PAS, the more time it will give Malaysians to realise PAS has turned on the people.

And we need to be honest and clear with Malaysians, instead of flip-flopping because even PAS has made it clear that it doesn't want to have anything to do with PKR, Bersatu, Amanah, and DAP.

CHARLES SANTIAGO is Klang MP.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.