Wily PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali danced his way around rumours of cracks in the opposition coalition, portraying Pakatan Rakyat as united in its war against BN.

NONE Speaking during an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini in Bangsar last Thursday, Mustafa ( left) described the many issues facing the newly formalised coalition as teething problems.

While admitting that Pakatan is facing issues, he quickly stated that its members had far more similarities than they had differences. They would need to build on those similarities to strengthen the fledgling coalition, he stressed.

Mustafa also explained the challenges facing Pakatan in Sabah and Sarawak as well as its strategies to overcome them. He believes the new approach will tip the scales in their favour.

Answering the thorny question of Pakatan without Anwar, he said that the coalition is more important than the man. No changing of the guard, he said, should affect Pakatan’s strength or the cooperation between its components.

Mustafa also addressed the controversial allegation of Malays being marginalised in Penang, rubbishing it as BN propaganda.

Edited excerpts of the first part of the interview are as follows:

Malaysiakini : How is Pakatan going to face the next general election?

Mustafa Ali: From the perspective of facing the upcoming 13th general election, for sure, all three component parties will go into the elections head-on together. Our cooperation was initiated even before it was officially registered during and after the 2008 elections. Our understanding was to fight BN with no common manifesto.

After that, as things developed, we decided to work together.

The latest development of this was our recent programme together, the convention in Shah Alam, where we came up with a shared agenda.

It is not yet a full manifesto, no details, but it is a rough policy. From now on more programmes will be scheduled as and when needed. Basically all three will face BN together.

What will happen if Anwar ‘goes in’ (prison)? Isn’t he the uniting factor in Pakatan?

We must differentiate the coalition from the individual. As a group we shall together stand, regardless of the changing of the guard. There are ways for us to replace personalities.

NONE For example, (when we faced) the 1999 election. Anwar was imprisoned. Wan Azizah replaced Anwar. We still stood together. There was no problem. Our common policies are the ones uniting us: to uphold justice and fight off  BN, injustice, corruption, all those other vile things.

It may also happen to other parties, but a change of guard shall not change the relationship between parties. As long as (we are) steadfast, we will stand together. Unless (Pakatan) decides otherwise, then it is a different matter.

How do you ensure the parties remains steadfast?

I am confident that whatever is happening now will not affect the alliance. We have a Pakatan high council, where representatives from all three parties will meet to discuss from time to time, the representatives shall decide what’s next.

What about the ideological differences between the three parties?

We cannot deny there are differences between Pakatan components. However we have more similarities than differences.

(We share) common ground, common policies. Differences exist, but we will not dwell on them. You can’t avoid it. Even in a family, the mother and father may disagree. What more in a political coalition?

    

How to control the differences, or any problems between the parties?

Each party has a disciplinary committee; any internal spat, the party will handle internally. Even though we have a Pakatan conduct council, we can make recommendations but the party (chooses whether to) implements (the recommendations).

There is no legal force for the coalition to take action, just like in BN, the coalition can’t enforce, only the party can. Under ROS, only the party can discipline members, everyone will handle their own affairs, PAS for example, we listen to advice from others, but we take action. On our own.

What about the interchange of candidates for elections between Pakatan components?

In Pakatan, especially between PKR and PAS, it is common practice to use PAS candidates for PKR seats, because they sometimes don’t have a candidate for their assigned seat. We allow PAS leaders to wear PKR shirts and contest under PKR. It has happened several times.

zulkifli noordin But in some cases, in the business of the election process, we did not do things through proper channels. In Zulkifli Noordin’s ( left ) case for example, without notification, suddenly he became a PKR candidate.

Realistically speaking, how many states would Pakatan get in the upcoming election?

It’s too early to say, we still have at least one year, if it is held in 2011. We cannot gauge now because political developments may change.

What if the election happens tomorrow?

If it is tomorrow, I think that Pakatan will still maintain its strength despite lessening of support but Umno will face the same reduction.

My prediction is that whoever wins the federal government, it shall be with a simple majority. Not two-thirds majority. If Pakatan wins or BN wins it won’t be two-thirds majority. It is difficult to get two-thirds majority in today’s political climate in Malaysia with all the developments.

What about the cold reception towards Pakatan in Sabah and Sarawak, how does PAS stand?

In this matter I must admit that Pas is weak in Sabah and Sarawak compared to PKR and DAP. They contest in more seats then us. Our approach to the grassroots is less effective there. PKR and DAP have won but we never did.

Is it because of the lack of Muslims?

That could be a factor. Because most in Sabah and Sarawak are non-Muslims, we lack the manpower and the suitable local leaders to inspire the grassroots. But we are not giving up! Our president toured Sabah and Sarawak recently. In fact we are gaining momentum there.

We are also going in with Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS to make use of non-Muslim supporters of PAS. We have locals who want to be members, but it will take time.

But now we will enter in Sabah and Sarawak as Pakatan, not as PAS or PKR or DAP. So this will change the way things are going to be handled. In fact I think things may be better then the last election.

What about issue of Malays being sidelined in Penang being used to target Lim Guan Eng?

This is not a new issue. From 50 years of Umno administrating Penang, Malays have been sidelined. Nothing has been done to improve their lot. There is a book by Yahya Ismail written 20 years ago describing this.

NONE Now suddenly this is being dragged up to target Guan Eng (left ). They (BN) are trying to use the issue to fan racial sentiments. What are the incidents they can (use) to substantiate their claim? These are all actually problems that came under Umno’s rule. Things they never tried to solve.

The plight of the Malays is being addressed by the current state government. In fact the conditions of Malays are better now.

Not from (bias) as fellow Pakatan members, but based on facts. Our representative found that things in Penang for Malays are improving.

Extreme poverty, for example, has been all but eradicated. From our sources, it is said that Malay contractors are doing better. Allocations to the Islamic affairs department have increased two-fold.

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