ALOR STAR – PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has now alleged that Umno is working secretly with arch-rivals Pakatan Harapan (PH) for the coming general election.
In the latest of a series of bewildering political claims, the incumbent Marang MP said this when unveiling the Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates at the Kedah PAS complex off Kota Sarang Semut here, just days after the cleric had accused DAP of being communist sympathisers.
Hadi said he is inclined to believe that Umno has a plot with PH, reasoning that the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) is working to ensure that BN will win fewer seats in the coming election than in the last one in 2018 when the national coalition won 79, down by 54 seats compared with the 13th general election.
The strategy, he said, is to facilitate a sense of collaboration between BN and PH to work together to form a new government following the outcome of the 15th general election.
The 15th general election, widely a parliamentary one as many states have opted not to dissolve their respective state assemblies, has been fixed for November 19 by the Election Commission.
Only Perak, Perlis, and Pahang are set to hold state elections after Sabah, Sarawak, Johor, and Melaka had theirs last year and the year before, while Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan and Terengganu decided to defer state elections due to the fear of seasonal floods.
Without providing concise evidence of the plot between PH and BN, Hadi alleged that the discreet plans have an ultimate objective, which is to free their leaders from criminal prosecution court cases.
“I now believe there is a movement to dilute Umno’s victory to make way for PH to secure a bigger margin this time.
“This is to facilitate the plan (for BN) to join forces with PH after the election,” said Hadi during a media briefing here, last night.
Hadi was commenting on the move by Umno to axe key leaders who were not aligned with the party’s top leadership from being selected as candidates.
Among senior Umno members who were dropped include Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and Datuk Seri Zahidi Zainul Abidin.
Hadi however declined to comment when he was probed whether PAS would be open to accepting the sacked Umno leaders to contest on the PAS ticket.
Speculations are mounting in Perlis that Shahidan may stand on the PAS ticket when he appears for nominations on Saturday.
“Politics is something dynamic and we welcome all winnable candidates. Things can change but everything will be confirmed during the nominations,” he added. – The Vibes, November 3, 2022
