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Penang state assemblyman P Ramasamy, said the political scenario which brought PAS and Umno together does not exist anymore.
He said this in commenting on PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man’s remarks that the Islamic party has no plans to leave MN despite the impending clashes with Umno in the Nov 20 elections.
Ramasamy, a political scientist who is Penang deputy chief minister, said Umno has made a “remarkable political recovery” (since the 2018 general election, when it lost power) “so much so that it doesn’t need PAS anymore or MN”.
Umno and PAS formed the Muafakat Nasional alliance in September 2019 as an electoral understanding with the main aim to unite the Malay-Muslim vote.
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Ramasamy added that there was also animosity between the two parties over PAS joining the Perikatan Nasional coalition which is led by Bersatu, an Umno splinter party.
“Both parties have come full circle, they are back to the original position even before they had the political pact.”
Ramasamy also hit out at PAS leaders, accusing them of putting political expediency ahead of their ideals.
“In the last two years or so, following the party’s participation in the government, its religious rhetoric has considerably toned down. Its leaders in the federal government are not super duper performers, for all their rhetoric, they behave more like passengers.”
Ramasamy added that PAS’ role in the federal government has exposed its weakness that was not seen when it was in the opposition.
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