IN A rebuff to PAS, Amanah today asserted that it is only interested in having a coalition partner that shares its values and has the same aspirations, and it will not jump into a “marriage of necessity” to win elections.
Its president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu stressed that if partners are not compatible and fail to have similar objectives, the government that they form will be fragile and find it hard to survive.
“Some may say that it is difficult to measure the strength of our party objectively because Amanah contested the elections as a coalition partner in Pakatan Harapan (PH).
“Indeed, many people do not know that that is the measure of Amanah’s strength. It is the strength of its strategy and political approach that advocates coalition politics as the basis of being able to win elections.
“Finding coalition partners that are compatible and have the same ambitions and objectives is very important. It’s not just marriage according to need,” he said.
He also stressed that the party does not rely on the charisma and aura of a single leader but draws people due to the merits of the organisation.
Mohamad said this in his presidential address at the 2023 Amanah national convention at a hotel in Klang today.
Amanah began as an offshoot of PAS. Mohamad and several other key figures had quit the Islamist party and formed Amanah in 2015.
Speaking at a press conference during the convention today, Mohamad said that he will not entertain a suggestion by PAS religious leader Datuk Hashim Jasin for the party to dump DAP, its partner in Pakatan Harapan (PH), as a precondition to cooperating with PAS.
Turning the tables on Hashim, Mohamad said that the decision to continue working with DAP was taken from PAS’ own decisions in 2008 and 2013, referring to the cooperation between PAS, PKR and DAP in the 12th and 13th general elections. Mohamad was then the deputy president of PAS.
“We walked together with DAP in 2008 and 2013. That call (from Hashim) is one we do not want to listen to,” he said.
“PAS used to work together (with DAP) and praised it so much in 2008 and 2013,” he said.
Earlier, the media had reported Hashim as asking Amanah to leave ally DAP if it wants to work with PAS. He had said this in response to the conditions set by Amanah vice-president Adly Zahari for cooperation.
Adly had said at a press conference during the Amanah women’s convention yesterday that his party is ready to work with PAS in a unity government on the condition that PAS scrap the 3R narrative, which refers to rhetoric regarding issues of religion, royalty and race.
Meanwhile, Mohamad also said that the unity government, which Amanah is part of, is determined to save the country from being torn apart.
“We are (in government) together because we want to maintain stability in order to make our economic development surge again and make people prosperous while restoring the dignity of this nation,” he said.
Mohamad, who is also the agriculture and food security minister, assured that the supply of food, especially eggs, chicken and paddy, will be sufficient ahead of next year’s festive seasons, including the Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, and Christmas periods. – The Vibes, December 23, 2023
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