KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali urged members of PAS and splinter group Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) to reconcile today, claiming the breaking of “silaturrahim” (friendship bond) is a big sin in Islam.

The Malay rights leader said maintaining friendly ties is a basic Islamic principle, adding that he believes both PAS and GHB, a movement formed among the Islamist party’s progressives, understand its importance.

“If they cannot even accommodate such a principle, how do they expect to work on a bigger objective like national unity?,” Ibrahim said today at the Perkasa headquarters.

“I urge them to reconcile because I know they can overcome their problem,” he added.

Despite admitting to be a critic of the opposition party and the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, the Malay rights leader said he still wants to see a two-party system in Malaysia.

He said PAS and GHB’s reconciliation is necessary for PR to maintain its momentum of support after its three member parties collectively clinched the popular vote in Election 2013.

“Hopefully if they can resolve all of this, they can come back together as new front. A united front, instead of their past ideology of just toppling Barisan Nasional (BN),” he said.

Acknowledging the opposition’s plan to form a new pact or “Pakatan 2.0” with GHB instead of PAS, Ibrahim pointed out that history has not been kind to splinter political groups.

Ibrahim reminded the opposition parties of other PAS splinter groups like Berjasa and Hamim and predicted the same fate for GHB.

“Even though they have already declared they will start a new party and have gone on roadshows, I don’t think this will benefit anyone. Therefore they must return as one,” he said, referring to GHB.

“All splinter parties never survive long.”

He said the opposition would miss a “golden opportunity” to form a “proper” alternative coalition for the next general election.

“We can have one party be the national front, then another party be the people’s front. If Pakatan can solve their problems, people will have a better alternative,” he said.

“Then the rakyat can decide on a party with the ideology for good governance. So then the rakyat can choose.”

GHB was launched on July 13 among leaders in PAS’s progressive faction who were ousted from their posts during the party’s muktamar in June.

Among those involved in GHB are Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, Kuala Krai MP Mohd Hatta Ramli, and led by former PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu.

The muktamar also led to the breakup of PR, which was declared dead after PAS decided during the meeting to sever ties with the DAP.