GEORGE TOWN: Penang Pas has issue a stern warning to Pakatan Harapan to not link the party with Barisan Nasional or Umno.
"This is a warning. Don't ever associate us with Barisan Nasional or Umno."
This was the terse message from Penang Pas secretary Iszuree Ibrahim, who was clearly incensed with the continuous attack by Pakatan Harapan, linking the Islamist party with BN.
Iszuree told the New Straits Times that Pas has a totally different ideology compared to BN, as its main objective is to uphold Islam at the national-level, while not compromising on the needs of the non-Muslims in its governance.
He said that there was no way the Islamist party would be aiding BN, especially in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat, for BN to wrest back the seat from PKR in the 14th General Election (GE14), as claimed by Penang Pakatan Harapan chairman Lim Guan Eng.
He said this was evident in Pas' decision to contest in all seats in Kedah and defending the ones in Kelantan.
"This guy (the chief minister) has already lost it. We are facing the same three-cornered fights, just like them. No one is at an advantage here as how he claimed.
"We have our own aim, our own ideology. If he has doubts about us, then he can watch videos of our leaders' speech on the GE14 in social media.
"Until then, I advise him to keep quiet and not make such baseless statements," he said when contacted today.
Last night, Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang revealed that the Islamist party wanted to wrest back the Permatang Pauh parliament seat in the upcoming elections.
Pas’ Zabidi Ali first won the seat back in 1978.
Since then, the seat had been vastly dominated by Umno and PKR. It is currently being held by PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Commenting on the matter today, Lim said he believes that Pas' decision to contest in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat would only prove to be an advantage to BN.
He said that Pas was just doing BN a 'favour' by contesting in the parliamentary seat there, which will impact Pakatan Harapan's chances of defending it.
"This is a democratic country, so they have every right to contest wherever they want to. Previously, they had even declared interest to contest in my Air Putih state constituency.
"It will be a challenge for Pakatan Harapan as Pas has always been seen as a party aiding BN. So definitely this is an advantage for them (BN).
"They may claim not to work together but they are looking to be together in secret, only thing missing now is the 'solemnisation' between the two," he said in a press conference.
Meanwhile, Lim also slammed Pas' two-tier Cabinet policy, introduced by the party leader, should the Islamist party comes to power in the next general election.
Lim, who is also the DAP secretary-general, labelled the policy as unconstitutional as it will sideline certain race to discharge specific duties.
"How can they designate one group to administer while the other just as 'kuli' (servant), they should not do this.
"This does not reflect the true spirit of Malaysia. History has proven that the party that wins is the party that gets support from all, not only taking support from Islam and sidelining the non-Muslims. Such parties have no place in the country," he added.