GEORGE TOWN, Feb 16 — Umno’s reluctance to contest the Kelantan state seat of Chempaka is to “please PAS”, DAP’s secretary-general said today.

In view of the fact that the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election will likely to be called soon, Lim Guan Eng claimed the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s anchor party was hoping to take advantage of the situation to divide the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact.

“This suggestion of contesting in one out of two by-elections is a calculated political strategy to maximise Umno’s strength, concentrate its resources and divide PR by pleasing PAS.

“To help Umno win the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat, Umno will not contest in Chempaka to please PAS and distance itself from Ibrahim Ali’s deplorable attacks on Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, even after Nik Aziz’s death,” he said in a statement.

Lim noted that Penang Umno chief Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Osman has said BN is going all out to contest the Permatang Pauh federal seat currently held by jailed PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

In comparison, Kelantan Umno chief Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed’s suggestion that BN give Chempaka a miss, so as to concentrate on post-flood repair and rehabilitation works, was weak.

“The rationale sounded so weak and unconvincing that even pro-Umno Ibrahim Ali criticised it as hypocritical,” Lim said, referring to the Kelantan-born Perkasa president and former Pasir Mas MP.

The Chempaka state seat in Kelantan fell vacant last week after its assemblyman Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat died of prostate cancer.

On the other hand, the Election Commission (EC) may declare a vacancy in the Permatang Pauh federal seat seeing as its representative Anwar has been convicted and sentenced to five years in jail.

Under Malaysian law, a seat becomes vacant and a by-election must be called if its elected representative is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two or more years.

Anwar and PR, however, are hoping to gain a royal pardon to forestall the declaration.

But without Anwar, the three-party PR pact has also been left without a head and the infighting that has driven a wedge between DAP and PAS also appears unlikely to be resolved soon.

DAP has been keen to bring back the third vote, but has met with vehement objections from the PAS president, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, who has claimed it would trigger a racial urban-rural wealth gap once more.

On the other hand, PAS’ insistence on implementing hudud law in Kelantan has also met with strident opposition from its secular partner.