All is not well for Pakatan Alliance

At the party's June assembly, the sex video scandal will take centre stage, say party insiders.


KUALA LUMPUR: DAP, PKR and PAS are strange political bedfellows and this will be tested severely at PAS’ annual general assembly in June.

The Pakatan Rakyat alliance has not gone down well with certain sections of PAS members and now it has come under close scrutiny with the emergence of the sex video where the main actor is said to resemble PKR de facto chief Anwar Ibrahim.

PAS has been riven by two sections since it joined Pakatan to take on Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 2008 general election and this was very obvious during the party elections in 2009.

In that election, one faction – the “young intellectual moderates” – took on the other camp – the veteran fundamentalists – in a head-on collision where all positions, except the president’s post, were contested.

A source said: “The party elections saw Anwar’s ‘friends’ contesting, a move seen by many in the party as an attempt to take control of the party leadership.”

Then there was also the question of party deputy president Nasharuddin Md Isa meeting with Umno leaders after the general election.

That issue has been settled following party president Abdul Hadi Awang’s guarantee that the matter has been buried. Now the latest issue on the sex video is expected to take centre stage.

Nagging issues

Despite party secretary-general Mustapha Ali saying that the party would take a stand after police had completed their investigations, party members to the AGM are expected to pressure the assembly to take an open stand.

The party’s stand is vital in the wake of the upcoming general election where party members need a clear guideline on where they stand, given that the party’s relationship with DAP is always “touchy”.

The ban on gambling in PAS-held states has created a lot of “unrest” between leaders of the two parties – one with secular philosophy while the other is Islamic fundamentalism. There are also other nagging issues like the setting up of an Islamic state.

The old timers are also wary of the motives of PKR leaders in wanting the party to change “a little” to become a moderate political organisation.

The veteran fundamentalists, who are friends of Anwar but know where to “draw the line” in their relationship, are also aware that Anwar is a shrewd politician and would not want to be caught off-guard.

At this year’s AGM, Anwar’s close friend Husam Musa, who was defeated in the 2009 election against incumbent Nasharuddin, is again being nominated to contest the same post.

At the June assembly, the elections will not be a major concern but the party’s stand on the sex video and the guidelines the party will adopt in the uneasy Pakatan alliance will be primetime news.

By Zainal Epi