An Umno-PAS tie-up will spell trouble for the non-Islamic parties in BN, potentially casting them out of the political mainstream, former MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek has warned.

Based on the results of the last general election in 2013, Chua said Umno and PAS together would have 109 out of the 222 parliamentary seats in Malaysia, as well as 326 out of 505 state assembly seats.

“If the two Islamic parties cooperate, this will surely cause interesting changes in society and the (political) environment, with changes and conflicts in every field.

“In this scenario, the non-Islamic BN component parties, including MCA and Gerakan, would face serious challenges,” he said.

“If Umno and PAS cooperate successfully , this would mean Muslim leaders would take control of the political power, especially in various West Malaysian states and the federal government.

“As for non-Islamic BN component parties, they can only scratch a living on the fringes of the political mainstream,” Chua said in a blog posting yesterday.

He said this in response to Umno president Najib Abdul Razak's speech on Dec 10, in which the prime minister also offered to foster closer ties with PAS.

PAS has issued a gag order barring its members from commenting on Najib's offer. PAS Youth chief Nik Abduh Nik Aziz welcomed Najib's offer, but stressed that PAS would remain a federal opposition party.

Good for DAP

Meanwhile, Chua said the current political scenario is working in DAP's favour, especially with DAP having broken off ties with PAS.

He said DAP now has a good opportunity and a good excuse to attack MCA and other non-Islamic BN component parties.

“DAP can now challenge MCA and other BN component parties to oppose the syariah criminal law, even challenging them to cut ties with Umno,” he said.

PAS has been making a renewed push towards implementing hudud, which is a a component of the syariah criminal law, in Kelantan.

This led to infighting between DAP and PAS, and the eventual dissolution of the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition.

Nevertheless, Chua doubted that Umno would go as far as allowing hudud to be implemented at the federal level, as it is aware that this would have serious consequences on Malaysian society.

“Moreover, there would be a strong backlash from Sabah and Sarawak against hudud, so it is impossible for the federal government to implement hudud. Umno and BN cannot overlook the potential backlash from Sabah and Sarawak.

“The prime minister is working hard on his Economic Transformation Programme to turn Malaysia into a high-income nation. He would not sacrifice this goal, and would not allow any political action to affect this goal.

“The prime minister wants to turn the goal of becoming a high-income nation into his 'political legacy' for Malaysians, so that they would forever remember his contribution to the country,” Chua said.