Mat Sabu Never Said Ph Shouldn T Talk To Bersatu Pas Says Salahuddin

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Salahuddin Ayub opened the door yesterday to talks with Bersatu and PAS ahead of GE15. ((Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub says party president Mohamad Sabu might have been misquoted when he cautioned Pakatan Harapan (PH) against working with Bersatu and PAS in the coming general election (GE15) under its “big tent” approach.
Speaking to FMT, Salahuddin, who yesterday opened the door to talks with Bersatu and PAS ahead of GE15, also downplayed DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng’s view that DAP would not work with Bersatu and PAS as they do not trust the leaders of the two parties.
“I think he (Mohamad) might have been a little bit misquoted. Mat Sabu didn’t say we could not talk (to Bersatu and PAS). Why can’t we talk and maybe have coffee?” Salahuddin said when asked to comment on the differing stance he had with Mohamad.
“Of course, Bersatu betrayed us… That’s one thing. But I think… that has already happened. Let bygones be bygones.
“Now is the time we have to be realistic. If we fail to form a strong opposition, we will fall to pieces like at the Melaka and Johor elections.”
Speaking to reporters at a buka puasa event in Johor yesterday, Salahuddin said PH should be open to talks with all opposition parties ahead of GE15 in order to put up a united front to defeat Barisan Nasional (BN) and such discussions could also include Bersatu and PAS.
In a statement on Monday, Mohamad noted that the opposition needed to put up a united front in GE15 but maintained that PH could not work with Bersatu, PAS and Umno.
He stressed that PH would not work with “traitors” who had betrayed the people’s mandate, referring to Bersatu’s withdrawal from the coalition with several former PKR leaders in the Sheraton Move, which saw the PH government fall in early 2020.
Lim, meanwhile, said he did not even want to meet Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to discuss any form of cooperation as the former prime minister was one of the masterminds behind the Sheraton Move.
However, while he did not specify which party he was referring to, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail previously said PKR was open to working with non-PH parties.
Salahuddin pointed out that it was normal for the parties in PH to have differences in opinion, stating that there were numerous such instances of it when the coalition was initially formed before GE14.
Stressing that PH and other opposition parties should focus on putting up a united front in order to give BN a strong challenge in GE15, the Pulai MP said he hoped to see the next general election pit “one enemy against another”.
“I have to be brave to say this,” he said.
“We may not succeed, but after what happened in Melaka and Johor, why not (talk to Bersatu and PAS)?
“We must have a big heart. That is a characteristic that leaders have. Someone has to get the ball rolling, and we must have courage.” - FMT

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