Parti Amanah Negara not a threat to PAS

PAS is still relevant in the local political scenario and will continue to be so as long as it gets support of the Malays, said National Council of Professors (MPN) cluster head of Political, Security and International Affairs, Prof Datuk Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak.

He said this is evident with Gerakan Harapan Baru and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) which had failed to attract Malays who are PAS members.

“Just look at Bersih 4.0 and the low turnout of Malays at the rally. They have failed to attract the Malays,” he said.

“Such scenarios never happened at Bersih rallies before this when PAS was still working together with Pakatan Rakyat (PR),” he said commenting on the Parti Amanah Negara's formation by GHB chairman Mohamad Sabu on August 31.

Parti Amanah Negara will be formally launched on September 16.

When asked to comment on Bersih 4.0 rally, Mustafa said the rally this time seemed to be dominated by one particular race.

“Let’s compare with demonstrations in other countries. Thailand and Indonesia have continuous demonstrations to demand for something. A one-off gathering of 34 hours might not bring huge changes,” he said.

The two-day Bersih 4 rally which the police declared as illegal is organised by the electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 which says it is fighting for clean and fair elections, and a clean government, among other things.

In Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, organisers stopped the rallies at midnight Saturday and at noon Sunday, respectively.