KUCHING: PBB supreme council member Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah believed Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) would not be able to make any impact in Sarawak.
Being a splinter party, the Asajaya assemblyman doubted if Amanah could live up to its name.
“Amanah will die a natural death especially in Sarawak. It is a party that does not have a specific struggle. It comes about when their leaders got ousted from PAS national elections and they decided to set up their own,” he said.
“In West Malaysia, they claimed to be an Islamic party but in Sarawak, in their effort to win the heart of their DAP partner, they leave matters to their Amanah local leaders to decide their own direction,” he added.
“This is a party which ‘follows the tide’…during high tide, it will go upstream. When it’s low tide, it will go downstream,” he stressed.
Abdul Karim who is also Youth Development Assistant Minister believed Sarawakians would not want this kind of leaders and party in their midst.
“They have no vision on what they want in Sarawak and their leaders here are rejected candidates in past elections. They knowingly or unknowingly let themselves be ‘used’ by DAP in DAP’s agenda to split the Bumiputera. It’s a matter of time, their unholy alliance with DAP will be known and Sarawakians will show them the exit,’ he elaborated.
Meanwhile Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) was cautious of the new opposition party, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), setting foot in Sarawak.
Its president Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing wanted the state Barisan Nasional (BN) to be wary and be well prepared for their onslaught or potential.
“Party Amanah led by Mohd Sabu is a splinter group of PAS. They, I believe, represent a more liberal group of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and a few of Amanah YBs (elected representatives) are western educated and, therefore, can pose greater threat to BN in Muslim areas,” said the Land Development Minister.
He pointed out that PAS, of the late Nik Aziz, was basically fundamentalist in approach and hence not quite acceptable to the more liberal Sarawak Muslims, saying that was why they had not established any root in the state over the years.
“However given time to expand and explain their views, Amanah could be a serious threat to PBB (Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu) in Muslim areas. Let us be wary and prepare,” cautioned Masing, who is Baleh assemblyman.
Just formed on Sept 1, most of the party’s founding members for the Sarawak chapter are believed to be former state PAS key members.
On Sept 4, Amanah Sarawak chairman Mohamad Fidzuan Zaidi said they were still new and in the process of sorting things out.
He said Amanah’s presence in the nation’s political scene was to “uphold democracy in Malaysia” and they were here to stay.
He revealed that a total of 500 application forms had been distributed throughout the state as the party aimed to have a membership of about 35,000 nationwide by Sept 16.
He was speaking to reporters during a press conference jointly organised with Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak at the state DAP headquarters here.
DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen, who was also at the press conference, jokingly said “the PAS is now in the past”.
“I am pleased to welcome Amanah’s presence in Sarawak and I look forward to a good working relationship between DAP Sarawak and Amanah Sarawak. We can be good partners in toppling the (ruling coalition) Barisan Nasional (BN) here in the state,” he said.
State PKR leaders were not present at the launch.
On Sept 1, Bernama reported the chairman of Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB), Mohamad Sabu, announced Amanah as the official name of GHB.
Mat Sabu, the former PAS deputy president, said GHB had taken over an existing political party, namely Malaysian Workers’ Party, and rebranded it Amanah and the details would be submitted to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) as soon as possible for its approval.
Currently, the party is working out things with DAP and PKR.
The Pakatan Rakyat alliance in the country is widely believed to be dead after DAP disagreed with PAS which had decided to pursue the implementation of hudud law in the country, a move which caused DAP to pull out from the alliance.
With the presence of Amanah, a party formed by PAS members who were said to be disappointed after they were rejected by PAS members at the annual assembly in June, DAP and PKR appeared to have a partner to replace PAS to form a new pact.
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