Anwar seems strong because PN looks weak, says PAS leader

Summary

• Amar Abdullah says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim seems strong because he has a weak opposition, therefore, he wants PN representatives to improve their performance.

• The PAS leader says the Islamist party’s focus now is on the issue of the Malay future and interests.

INTERVIEW | A senior PAS leader believes there is some truth in claims that the government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is seen as strong today because it has a weak opposition.

PAS vice-president Amar Abdullah also agreed that Perikatan Nasional elected representatives have to be more aggressive and louder in raising current issues.

While many had been outstanding in carrying out their roles at the Dewan Rakyat and state legislative assemblies, he said the opposition leaders still have to improve their performance.

"I have also been receiving many complaints. People had been asking what our representatives were doing, they were seen to be quiet when there were so many issues to raise.

"While the elected leaders had been speaking out in the Parliament, this fact did not reach them (the rakyat), so they felt that our representatives were not doing their job. This is the problem.

"This is what the people outside see. Analysts also have said that Anwar is 'bertuah' (lucky) because he has a weak opposition. To me, there is some truth to that, albeit not 100 percent," he said during an interview with Malaysiakini recently.

The Kelantan state assembly speaker said the rakyat today wants to see their leaders utilising social media, including from PN.

He compared PN with the way Pakatan Harapan leaders were using the platform when they were in the opposition.

"Generally, if we see in the context of Parliament and state assemblies, alhamdulillah, PN has been performing well. I just believe they can do more. Because the rakyat is expecting more from them, based on comments I heard outside.

"These people do not know what happened in Dewan Rakyat, because the newspapers do not report what we (opposition) say, they can only find what we say in the Hansard.

“So PN elected representatives, especially the MPs, must do better. They must be more outspoken, issue statements to newspapers, or through ceramah.

"If we are to compare the time when Harapan was in the opposition, they went all out to the extent of lying on the road, sleeping on the roadside. I'm not saying we should do the same thing, I also do not agree with such stunts, these are rubbish.

"But the people could see their efforts. Even when the issue is not that big, the people could see they were serious," Amar said.

According to the PAS leader, the party had also stressed this during their recent retreat session.

PAS and the Malay struggle

During the interview, Amar was also asked about the Islamist party's focus, which was seen to have shifted more towards Malay-centric issues rather than Islam.

He denied that PAS had any change of policy but said they would stress certain issues based on situational needs.

"For example, during PAS' early days, the party spoke about independence because at that time, our country had yet to gain its independence. But after Merdeka, PAS carries other issues.

"After Merdeka came the Malay struggle, about the position of Malay Muslims (in this country). When we had a Malay-led government, then came the issue of Islam.

"It depends on the situation, whether it is independence, Malay, Islam, all of these are within our focus. To those who do not understand, they might think that we have diverted from our original struggle, but this is not the case.

“We have been speaking about the Malay, and fighting for our religion, race and country," he added.

According to the Panchor state assemblyperson, PAS now focuses on the issue of Malay future and interests because Malay and Islam are identities.

"It is clearly stated in the (federal) constitution that the Malays are Muslims, they speak Bahasa Melayu, and practice Malay culture. Malay and Islam are actually one. So when we speak about the Malays, we are automatically speaking about Islam," Amar said.

The former Kelantan deputy menteri besar added that PAS now talks about Malay issues because of several issues that have arisen recently.

"We speak about Malay because some Malays have forgotten their identity, they did not realise that they are Muslims, that this is a Malay land, so that is why we give a bit more focus towards this.

"It's like during the durian season; we would talk about durians. When it is dokong (langsat) season, we talk about dokong. But we eat everything, just different seasons," he said.

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