The political atmosphere in Kelantan heated up a little following rumours that 10 PAS elected representatives in the state would jump ship and join Parti Amanah Rakyat (Amanah) in January next year.

The issue arose after New Hope Movement (GHB) chairperson Mohamad Sabu launched Amanah on Aug 31, and the matter was played up by Kelantan Amanah chairperson Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah during the party's launch in Kota Baru on Sept 11.

However, PAS vice-president Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah ( photo ), when met by reporters after opening the state-level Malaysia Day celebration at Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV in Kota Baru, denied the claim and said it was just psychological warfare by the opposition to get the support of voters.

It is learnt that the 10 PAS elected representatives referred to consist of three parliamentary members (MP) and seven state assemblypersons.

Director of Institute for Malaysian Political Analysis (Mapan), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Dr Kamarul Zaman Yusoff, said he doubted the PAS elected representatives would join Amanah as they were bound by the ‘lafaz taklik cerai talak tiga’ (pronouncement of divorce of three counts) on the spouse under bai’ah (oath of allegiance) agreed upon by them during the 13th general election.

He said almost all the ulama (Islamic religious scholars) in Kelantan, including state mufti Muhamad Shukri Muhamad and the state Chief Syariah Judge Daud Mohammad, concurred that the oath of allegiance and the pronouncement of triple divorce imposed on the PAS elected representatives were valid.

Pressure from constituents

He believed the elected representatives would face pressure from their constituents should they leave PAS.

“To the contrary, the ones to feel threatened are the PAS elected representatives who have left the party because there is a possibility the Kelantan people will not vote for them if they are fielded in the coming election as candidates for another party,” he said in an interview with Bernama.

On Kuala Krai MP Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli and Tumpat MP Kamarudin Jaffar having left PAS and joined Amanah and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) recently, Kamarul Zaman said the two MPs were not worried of being spurned by their constituents as they were not from Kelantan.

“Kamarudin had contested in Tumpat several times on Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket, but never won, and only won when he was fielded as a PAS candidate.

“This shows his victory was not because of his popularity, but the party which he represented,” he added.

“This showed his victory was not because of his popularity, but the party which he represented,” he added.

PAS holds the majority in the Kelantan state assembly with 32 seats, while BN has 12 seats and PKR with only one seat.

Kamarul Zaman said even if the seven PAS assemblypersons were to join Amanah, PAS would still hold the majority seat in the state assembly.

- Bernama