Failure to address Bersatu’s status prolongs PN crisis, says Ramasamy

PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) failure to discuss Bersatu’s standing within the coalition at last night’s Supreme Council meeting has only entrenched the ongoing internal crisis, says Urimai chairman P Ramasamy.

Ramasamy said the Islamic party should not resort to undemocratic and unsavoury methods to establish its political hegemony over the fledgling opposition coalition.

He said that given the widening rift between PAS and Bersatu, the emergency meeting should have focused on the latter’s future in the coalition.

He also said Bersatu should have insisted that its position in PN be discussed before the admission of new component parties.

“Now, with the addition of new component parties, some of which might be inclined to favour PAS, Bersatu might have difficulty maintaining its strength in PN.

“Ultimately, PAS might establish its control over PN, but only at the costly price of undermining the opposition coalition itself,” he said in a statement.

At a press conference after the meeting last night, PN chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar announced that the Supreme Council had agreed to the admission of Parti Wawasan Negara and Pejuang into the coalition.

Samsuri, a PAS vice-president, said the meeting proceeded harmoniously and that Bersatu’s position in PN was not discussed.

Ramasamy said that PAS, despite its bravado in breaking ties with Bersatu and removing some of its leaders from positions in PN, might have recognised the risks of an open confrontation.

“PAS sensed that Bersatu came prepared for a fight if there were attempts to push it out of PN.

“(But) the harder PAS pushes Bersatu into a corner, the swifter and more devastating the retaliatory response might be,” Ramasamy said.

He expressed confidence that Bersatu president, Muhyiddin Yassin, was thinking of ways to surmount the deadlock in PN.

“It is not as if he has no options left,” he added.

“Perhaps it was in anticipation of future problems with PAS that Muhyiddin had the foresight to launch the larger coalition of Ikatan Prihatin Rakyat (IPR).”

He added that given the current challenges, IPR could provide much-needed coherence in the opposition bloc.

Urimai is part of the IPR alliance, which also comprises Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan, Pejuang, Putra, Berjasa, Muda, the Malaysian Advancement Party, the National Indian Muslim Alliance Party, and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party.