KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Selangor Perkasa played down the rejection by state PAS of its offer to work together on Malay rights, saying it isn’t a political party that needs voter support to exist.
Its chief, Abu Bakar Yahya chided Selangor PAS commissioner Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad for scorning Perkasa’s offer, and sought to remind the Islamist opposition party that it needs voters and might even have offended some of them.
“Perkasa did not lose anything because we are not contesting in the elections. In fact, we are an NGO that is willing to help any contesting parties.
“The Selangor PAS commissioner must be more careful in making statements because PAS’ position in Selangor is not as strong as before, with the fallout between PAS and DAP, made complicated by the set-up of Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), they should approach voters in a more prudent way,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He also denied that Perkasa is racist but respects other races as well as protecting the Malaysian constitution.
On Wednesday, Iskandar said that PAS had only received a “courtesy visit” from Perkasa at its headquarters the day before, when Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang only discussed 1MDB, SOSMA and TPP.
He also denied any form of cooperation between the two groups, adding that PAS rejected those who champion racial sentiments.
Abu said Perkasa had wanted to meet with PAS because it respects the Islamist party’s stance for sacking members who are not in line and dared to cut ties with DAP, which he claimed had constantly gone against the Islamic fight and denying the Malays’ special rights.
“Selangor Perkasa has no problem working with PAS to protect the constitution including the Malays and Islam but Iskandar should be more careful in making statements, he should have spoken in a nicer manner and accepted it with an open heart,” he said.
Abu alluded to the fact that Selangor Perkasa can help the Islamist party win votes as he claimed it has almost 100,000 members from various political background.
