PAS: Najib, Soi Lek tearing Malaysians apart for support

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar today accused Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek of attempting to gain political support by creating friction between the Malay and Chinese communities here.

The Pokok Sena MP lambasted Dr Chua as having stooped to the level of a mere branch leader, despite his status as MCA president, when the latter allegedly tried to frighten the Chinese community by saying that voting for DAP would empower PAS.

Najib, in turn, was doing the opposite, added Mahfuz, when the prime minister told Muslim leaders yesterday that a vote for Islamist PAS was a vote for secular, majority Chinese DAP.

“This would create evil prejudices between both races... the Chinese would fear that the Malays in PAS would destroy the Chinese, while the Malays would fear that the Chinese in DAP would do the same to them.

“This would destroy the future of our country,” he told a press conference here.

The prime minister alluded yesterday at a gathering of ulama, Muslim scholars and bloggers that a vote for Islamist PAS was a vote for DAP.

His remarks came a day after Dr Chua, during Saturday’s debate with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, told Chinese voters that support for DAP would only strengthen PAS, which he claimed would force its values upon non-Muslims.

“I am very disappointed that Dr Chua would try to raise the fears of the Chinese community in this manner. I feel he has lowered his status and level of intellect that a political leader of his stature should have... as if he is a leader of a branch or division in a rural area like Gua Musang,” Mahfuz said.

He added that the two leaders’ statements appeared to indicate that both Umno and MCA have conceded defeat to PAS and DAP, ahead of the coming polls.

“It is like Dr Chua is admitting that Umno would lose to PAS and Najib admits that MCA would lose to DAP.

“While I support this notion, I feel this would not help racial harmony in the country,” he said.

Mahfuz also earlier suggested for more debates to be held, this time between Najib and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, followed by another between the prime minister as the president of Umno and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

He pointed out that several years back, a similar debate mooted between himself as the former PAS Youth chief and former Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, had been called off at the behest of the Umno leadership.

“Perhaps at the time, such debates were not appropriate. But now, I feel we have all reached a level of maturity to enable us to hold more of these events,” he said.

Mahfuz said that a debate between Umno and PAS would help the Islamist party answer to numerous allegations that its leaders were traitors of Islam.

“They (Umno) can choose any topic that they see fit,” he added.