Amanah urges rogue MPs to return to Pakatan fold, help fulfill GE14 mandate

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — Parti Amanah Negara communications director Khalid Abdul Samad has said the honourable thing left to do is for those who have quit Pakatan Harapan to return to the coalition.

In a series of tweets, he said this is especially the case since they won their parliamentary seats on Pakatan’s ticket, and that if they choose to leave the coalition later, it is up to them.

“Even more so when Pakatan wants to continue fulfilling its mandate and the promises made during the 14th general election. There is no excuse for them to betray us,” Khalid said.

He added the Pakatan government collapsed due to ‘several people’ in PKR who won on the coalition’s ticket but left their party, even though they won due to the support and sacrifices of Pakatan’s election machinery.

“In Bandar Tun Razak, the local PKR leadership reaffirmed their support for Pakatan as well as rejecting the treachery of their MP,” Khalid said, referring to Datuk Kamaruddin Jaffar, who is one of 11 former PKR MPs who have since formed an independent Parliamentary block under former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

Noting that some have compared the departure of the PKR MPs to those of Amanah’s when they left PAS in 2015, he said both situations are completely different as Amanah’s MPs left PAS after its leadership’s intention to betray the then-Opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat by joining hands with Umno.

“Some want to play on the issue of religion, by claiming that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s supporters are mostly non-Muslims and therefore he should be rejected. Such individuals do not care for justice and the truth, for they are willing to be together with robbers and traitors who happen to be Muslims.

“Islam does not teach us to be like this, instead of teaching us to be honourable. Islam teaches us to stand together with those who are true, just, and trustworthy, for that is what is being fought for by Pakatan. It is saddening to see Muslims being taken for a ride on the basis that there are many non-Muslims with Pakatan,” Khalid said, adding that instead of being called upon to reject Pakatan, Muslims ought to be called upon to support the coalition.