PAS risks being entirely wiped out from Selangor if it supports Khalid - Tony Pua

DAP is hoping that PAS will embrace the spirit of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition to deliver its promises to the people of Selangor, instead of having opposing views on the Menteri Besar (MB) crisis in the state.

DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said with PAS’ insistence in retaining Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as the Selangor Menteri Besar, the party is risking itself of being entirely wiped out from the state.

“If DAP and PKR want to replace Abdul Khalid, while PAS is adamant to have him retained, then the current state executive council will no longer be able to function while the state assembly will be practically split down the middle with no clear majorities.

“Under such circumstances, Khalid Ibrahim will likely have his request to hold snap elections in Selangor consented by the Selangor Sultan.

“If events do unfold as such, then there will be only losers for all PR parties. We will be forced to incur significant losses, but no party will suffer more damage than PAS,” he explained in a press statement today.

Pua, who admitted that PR suffered a massive loss of confidence following the MB crisis, said PAS’ insistence to support Abdul Khalid will inevitably lead to a snap election which will only cause PAS to lose most, if not all of their hard-won seats, and in all likelihood hand Selangor back to UMNO on a silver platter.

“If both PKR and DAP were to suffer a three per cent and 10 per cent drop in Malay and non-Malay votes respectively, we will suffer a combined loss of seven seats out of 30 contested including Batu Tiga, Ijok, Kota Anggerik, Taman Medan and Pelabuhan Kelang for PKR, Kuala Kubu Baru and Sg Pelek for DAP.

“This will leave PKR and DAP with 10 and 13 seats respectively.

“However, even in the most optimistic scenario where there is inconceivably no drop in Malay support for PAS, coupled with only a 15 per cent drop in non-Malay support, the party will lose seven of the 15 seats won in the last General Election.

“These most vulnerable seats are Sabak, Gombak Setia, Dusun Tua, Selat Klang, Sijangkang, Morib and Tanjong Sepat,” he explained.

He added that if the non-Malay vote drops by 25 per cent, PAS will also lose Taman Templer, Hulu Kelang, Lembah Jaya, Seri Serdang and Paya Jaras, leaving them with only 3 seats in the state assembly.

“Even these three seats - Chempaka, Bangi and Meru are not safe. Should Malay votes decline by a mere 5 per cent while non-Malay votes drop by 30 per cent, PAS will be completely wiped out in the state of Selangor.

“As anyone can see from the above scenarios, it will be very unlikely for Pakatan Rakyat, if the coalition still exists in the snap election, to retain power in the state.

“The biggest winner will be UMNO, returning with up to 30 seats in the State Assembly,” he said.

Following the Kajang move, PKR decided to nominate Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah as the possible candidate to replace Abdul Khalid.

According to PKR, all three PR parties had given consent to nominating Dr Wan Azizah as the candidate.

However, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang later publicly expressed his support for Abdul Khalid to remain as Selangor Mentri Besar and he was backed by former PAS president, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.