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When more is less: PAS would make Anwar’s crowded house noisier
The Islamist party will shore up Malaysian PM’s numbers in Parliament but create more tensions in an already fraught government.
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Revival of this idea today carries different motives and repercussions. And these are unlikely to benefit Datuk Seri Anwar’s government.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KUALA LUMPUR – Talk of Malaysia’s main Islamist party joining Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s so-called unity government caused a stir two weeks ago, but it’s hardly a novel idea. We have been here before, and recent history shows such hook-ups rarely last.
Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), the largest opposition party in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance, was part of the “backdoor” ruling government from 2020 to 2022. Looking further back, it had in the 2013 general election teamed up with the more liberal, secular parties in PM Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan stable such as his flagship Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP), but this relationship broke up by 2015.
