Obama's CASA NOIR

Prior to the recent US Presidential Election, there was a widespread skepticism of a black candidate becoming the most powerful person on the globe. I had my share of reservations too. But the US has shown that being black is no hindrance to being elected to the highest office in the land. Congratulations to the ordinary citizens of the US, black, white & coloured, and Barrack Hussein Obama for this history-making epoch. I, however, took Obama's victory as the resultant electorate rejection of George Bush's trigger-happy foreign policy particularly that towards Iraq and Afghanistan.
Would Obama turn the White House (to be read as Casa Blanca) into a Black House (Casa Noir) now ? No, not likely ! Having appointed Rahm (Rahem) Emanuel as his Chief of Staff is inferential enough of things to come. This could have been a political deal Obama has made with the US jewish lobby and AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) during the campaign period to secure his ascendancy. Hussein Obama would not stand a strand of a chance of winning the election had he not projected himself as being pro-Israel. In his campaigns, he addressed the AIPAC and visited the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem to seek the jewish endorsement of his candidacy. At least that way he would not be deprived of receiving campaign funds from the wealthy jewish organisations or individuals. But those campaign donors don't contribute for nothing, but for some considerations only Obama knows what. Is appointing Rahem Emanuel one of them ?
Rahem is an active member of Anshe Shalom, a modern orthodox jewish congregation, and a son of Dr. Benjamin M. Emanuel, a practising paedetrician in Chicago who was once a member of Irgun Zvi Leumi, a zionist terrorist movement in Palestine during the British Mandate. During the 1991 Gulf War, Rahem was a volunteer at an army base in Israel.

You ARE shooting blanks, Anwar !!!

I was rather excited at the prospects of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) under Anwar Ibrahim taking over the Federal Government of Malaysia from Abdullah Badawi of the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN). The much-hyped 16th September did not produce the regime change promised by Anwar. The Parliament was not in session during the fasting month of Ramadhan but Anwar drummed up a roar demanding for a special seating of Parliament to debate a motion of no-confidence against Badawi, the Prime Minister. Badawi, however, did not entertain such rhetorical idea.
When Parliament re-convened immediately after Ramadhan, no such motion was moved by PR or Anwar to the despair of the people who have rallied behind PR in the March 2008 General Elections.
I don't think I could believe Anwar again.

The NEOCONS : One Tentacle of the Jewish Lobby in the US

One of the key tenets of neoconservatism is the vigorous support for Israel and a tendency to favour its more hardline elements. It is the Jewish Americans who form the core of the neoconservative movement which is a microcosm of the larger pro-Israel movement. Neoconservatism is also widely supported by Christian Zionists which is a subset of the politically-inclined Christian Right.
Some of the notable neoconservatives (or neocons) include Elliot Abrams, Kenneth Adelman, William Bennett, John Bolton, Douglas Feith, Jeane Kirkpatrick (dec.), I. Lewis Libby, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, James Woolsey, David Wurmser, Robert Bartley, David Brooks, Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, Bret Stephens, Norman Podhoretz, Fouad Ajami, Eliot Cohen, Aaron Friedberg, Bernard Lewis, Ruth Wedgwood, Max Boot, David Frum, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Robert Kagan, Michael Ledeen, Joshua Muravchik, Daniel Pipes, Danielle Pletka, Michael Rubin, and Meyrav Wurmser.
The leading neoconservative magazines & newspapers are the Commentary, the New York Sun, the Wall Street Journal and the Weekly Standard. The think-tanks and advocacy groups that are closely aligned to the neocons are the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Centre for Security Policy (CSP), the Heritage Foundation, the Hudson Institute, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), the Middle East Forum (MEF), the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), and to a lesser extent, the Bradley Foundation and the Henry Jackson Society.
The neocons occupy influential positions at a variety of organisations and institutions and have been prominent in shaping the Bush Administration's unilateralist foreign policy, and especially the ill-fated decision to invade Iraq in March, 2003.
Neoconservatism is essentially a political ideology which mostly extols the virtues of US hegemony, and sometimes even the idea of an American Empire, and they believe US power should be used to encourage the spread of (western) democracy and discourage potential rivals from even trying to compete with the United States.

Source : The Israel Lobby & the US Foreign Policy

A Threat to the Economic Stability & National Security

I am the least disturbed by the ministerial swap in Finance and Defence portfolios as announced by Abdullah Badawi yesterday. Abdullah is taking over the Defence Ministry from Najib Abdul Razak, his deputy, and handing over the Finance Ministry to the latter in exchange. Whether or not the move is an implicit confidence in Najib's ability to managing the nation's economy is anyone's guess. Abdullah has even inferred that the transition of power to Najib would be sooner than 2010 if the latter performs.
But I am overwhelmingly disturbed by Abdullah's accusation of Anwar Ibrahim being a threat to the economic stability and the national security of Malaysia. Is this a way to prepare the minds of the people at large that Anwar would soon be detained under the ISA ? Is this a credible pretext to silence Anwar politically forever ?
Anwar has failed miserably in his claim of wresting power from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) on 16th September which despairingly went by uneventful. But he still maintains that he has the numbers to effect the change in government anytime soon. His persistent claim of having the support of at least 31 MPs from the BN must have pricked Abdullah's conscience to acting immediately in response. Is detention under ISA the answer to frustrate Anwar in his quest to become the next prime minister ?

Definition of Terrorism

The eminent Dr. Yusuf al-Qardhawi defines a terrorist as one who intendedly kills human beings without regards to whether they are ordinary citizens or military personnel, without considering whether they are guilty or innocent, without distinguishing the oppressed from the oppressors.

A US Army Manual defines 'terrorism' as the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological in nature.... through intimidation, coercion, or instilling fear.
The British Government defines it as the use, or threat, of action which is violent, damaging or disrupting, and is intended to influence the government or intimidate the public and is for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, or ideological cause.
Going by the US and the British definitions, no reference is made to the legitimate struggles for freedom, independence, or resistance to occupation, oppression.
It follows that the resistance movements in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the freedom-fighters in Kashmir, Kurdistan, Southern Philippines, Chechnya, Southern Thailand & Xinjiang are therefore NOT terrorists.

Cracks in UMNO

Muhyiddin Yasin, the Minister of International Trade & Industry, has called upon Abdullah Badawi, the Prime Minister, to hasten the transfer of power to someone else instead of waiting for 2010 to effect his Succession Plan. Abdullah has retorted that he would stick to the original plan and it was improper for Muhyiddin to raise the issue now after it has been endorsed by UMNO Supreme Council. Najib Abdul Razak, the heir-apparent, has advocated that the succession plan should be decided by grassroot members of UMNO inferring that he is NOT fully committed to such plan. Tengku Razaleigh, a former cabinet member, pointed out that there was no legal provisions under the UMNO Constitution to deal with leadership succession plan. Zaid Ibrahim, the apparent Law Minister, has challenged Abdullah on the recent use of the Internal Security Act to detain journalists and politicians without trial. Both Muhyiddin and Zaid have indicated that they are ready to face the music for what they have advocated against Abdullah.
Are these events supposed to be the preamble to the much-anticipated political crossovers of BN MPs to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) tomorrow ?

Current Parliamentary Composition before 16th September

BN, the current ruling party, only holds 63.06% (140) of the total 222 seats in Parliament while the Opposition PR commands the balance at 36.94% (82). In order to wrest control of Parliament, hence the Federal Government, the People's Front (PR) would need a defection of at least 30 MPs from the ruling BN party to reconstitute the composition to 112 seats (50.45%) of PR against 110 (49.55%) of BN for a simple majority.
Short of the required two-thirds majority (148 seats), the new PR government, if ever formed, shall NOT be in a luxury to revoke or amend existing laws nor legislate new ones. So what would be the benefits of the planned "regime change" by Anwar Ibrahim to the ordinary people at large ?
Under the collective PR banner, PKR currently has 31 seats, DAP has 28, PAS 22 and Independent 1. Going by an ethno-religious classification, the PR is represented by 43 Muslims and 39 non-Muslims while the BN at 89 and 51 respectively. Will the composition change drastically as a result of the defections after 16th September so as to substantially misalign or unshackle the Malaysian power structure for good ? Is that what Anwar wants in his political adventurism vis-a-vis the Malay-Muslim majority in the long terms ?

Winds of Change in Malaysia's Political Landscape

According to a local poll conducted a few days ago, 86% of the respondents believed that Anwar Ibrahim could unseat Abdullah Badawi and the ruling National Front (BN) from the reigns of power on Malaysia Day, 16th September. While I would welcome the 'regime change' from BN to PR (the People's Front), deep inside me I have overwhelming apprehensions about Anwar's real political orientation and allegiance of his premiership as he is purported to have stricken well-endowed acquaintances with US heavyweights such as Al Gore, a former US Vice President, and Paul Wolfowitz, a former Chief of the World Bank, among others. Wolfowitz, if you would recall, was the US State Department Chief for Asia Desk during the Reaganite administration. Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the US from 1981 through 1989. Surely Anwar was no stranger to Wolfowitz then as Malaysia , being part of Asia, was directly under the latter's 'thumb'.
If Anwar eventually turns out to be the new Prime Minister of Malaysia, I am eager to see whether Anwar would, upon his elevation, immediately scramble to fly to Washington to pay his personal homage to George W Bush, and subsequently ratify the Free Trade Agreement with the US soon after.
My big question is whether Anwar will be instrumental to expanding US hegemony to Malaysia wholesale, or what ?

Who Killed Benazir Bhutto ?

An assasination attempt was made today on Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister of Pakistan and the Taliban immediately claimed responsibility. Did the same group kill Benazir ? I tend to believe so. But why did they kill her ?
Benazir was a longtime US lackey and so is Pervez Musharraf, the recently deposed president of Pakistan. Soon after being made the prime minister, Gilani went to Washington to pay homage to George W. Bush continuing Benazir's legacy of being staunchly pro-US. Gilani must have made deals with Washington to renege on the re-instatement of the judges sacked during Musharraf's rule. He must have also agreed with Washington not to prosecute Musharraf after his (Musharraf) political departure. And these have led Nawab Sharif to withdraw from the coalition government under Gilani. Now that Zardari, late Benazir's husband, is pursuing to become the next president of Pakistan.
Whether it is Musharraf, Benazir, Gilani or Zardari, they are all American proxies in the Sub-Continent, including Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. But Hamid Karzai is a real US puppet. No wonder the Taliban is going after their blood.
Do we have the likes of Musharraf or Benazir in our midst ? I believe we do.

Will You Please Shut Up, Khir Toyo !

Khir Toyo is unhappy about the appointment of village heads in the State of Selangor where he was previously the Chief Minister. The new State Government under Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is said to have picked up members from PKR and PAS to be the new heads.
What's wrong with that ? Surely, when government changes so will ministers. Khir Toyo, you had done a lot worse than that when you were the Chief Minister. Did you ever appoint PAS or PKR members as village heads when you were in power previously ? You installed your own people to be members of mosque committees in the state dismissing the choice made by local congregants. You even removed Imams of mosques who were seen to be not on your side, not to mention restrictions imposed on respected Islamic scholars against giving tazkirah (discourse) at the mosques. You even forcefully closed down 'surau' (musalla) whose congregation was of different political affiliation than yours.
As Leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly now, your time and energy should be better spent on other major issues befalling the State. Please don't stoop that low by championing matters deemed to be "red herrings". Don't be petty. You are certainly more worthy than that.

Which Heads Will Roll ?

Confidence is mounting each day among PKR supporters of Anwar Ibrahim in toppling the BN Government of Abdullah Badawi on 16th September, which is about 2 weeks away. Anwar has declared that upon his elevation as the new premier, he would immediately release all detainees now being incarcerated in detention centres under the Internal Security Act (ISA) which legalizes detention without trial. I would rather urge Anwar to abolish the draconian ISA altogether.

What else ? I think all the group editors, chief editors, and editors of the mainstream media who have served diligently as the mouthpiece of the ruling parties shall have to go unconditionally. Next would be the vice-chancellors or rectors of the public institutes of higher learning who have shown to be working for the ruling party instead of protecting academic freedom in public universities or colleges. What about the chiefs of the Government-Linked Corporations (GLCs) who have been handpicked by a certain minister ? We shall see.

Would we see an early retirement of the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General when Anwar comes into power ? I hope not.

Will Anwar Make It Comes 16th September ?

All opinions I have sought from friends and foes seem to be optimistic that Anwar Ibrahim will be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia when some 30 MPs from the ruling National Front (BN) are expected to defect to the People's Front (PR) by 16th September. This would lead to the downfall of Abdullah Badawi as a premier and the collapse of the BN government. Anwar himself re-affirmed the plan was still on track when he was speaking at the Parliament House recently.

Mathematically speaking, I find the target of getting 30 MPs to cross over to PR seems to be quite a tall order. May be he could get 13 from Sabah and possibly 7 from Sarawak. There may be 2 more from Gerakan (BN's component party) from the Peninsula. But that only makes 22, which is short by 8, certainly not enough to unseat the incumbent goverment. Where else possible defections could come from ? It is said that there will MP's from UMNO joing the PR ranks, but will they make the numbers ?

If PR could unseat BN comes 16th September, let's see whether Ustaz Abdul Hadi Awang of PAS would be made the Deputy Prime Minister.

What is Corruption ?

In the run-up to the Parliamentary By-election in Permatang Pauh on Tuesday, 26th August, 2008, I could see reports in the mainstream media showing political figures involved in repairing dilapidated houses in some villages, financial contributions to the mosque and surau (musalla) committees being distributed and other imaginable acts of concerns and care by politicians. All these happen during the 10-day campaign period in efforts to woo votes in the constituency. Would this happen if there had been no by-election there ? Is this not CORRUPTION ?

It is time that the Election Commission reviews the rules of the Election to ensure clean and healthy practices.

Anwar Ibrahim's SHADOW CABINET LINE-UP

Comes 26th August, Anwar Ibrahim will be declared the winner of a parliamentary by-election in Permatang Pauh constituency. Most political pundits have concurred that Anwar's victory and his imminent return to Parliament is a foregone conclusion. Some acquaintances from Permatang Pauh I have spoken to confidently claim that there is practically no need to campaign for Anwar as he is expected to win the by-election handsomely with his hands down.
We shall soon see whether Anwar's claim of having secured the support of 30 defecting BN (National Front) MPs to form the next Federal Government is really substantive or just trying to catch a rainbow.
In the war of posters in Permatang Pauh, one purportedly distributed by PKR, Anwar's party, shows a new cabinet line-up that includes Nurul Izzah, an MP from the Federal Territory of KL, who is Anwar's daughter. Huh, so much for his anti-cronyism stance !!! But I earnestly hope that the line-up was a fictitious creation. I just could not imagine nor could I accept that Ustaz Hadi Awang, PAS President, is only slotted as a senior minister in charge of Islamic Affairs, and that there is no single Malay or Muslim being designated as a Deputy Prime Minister from among the three DPM-designates. If this is supposed to be a dream team of Anwar Ibrahim's cabinet, then PAS should rethink its affiliation to Pakatan Rakyat (People's Front) coalition government.
Having full control of two State Governments in Kelantan and Kedah respectively and a respectable number of MPs in the current Parliament, PAS should be given the due respects it deserves in the distribution of cabinet posts to the component parties within Pakatan Rakyat.
With the exception of the Prime Minister, the Malays form barely 30% of the cabinet composition [PAS (4), PKR (3)]. Is this a Malay/Muslim political sell-out yet again?
I wish to imagine that the shadow line-up is just a figment of a hallucination of a creative jackass.

Curtailment of Friday Sermon in Perak

Ustaz Nik Aziz and Ustaz Abdul Hadi, PAS Spiritual Leader and President respectively, were barred recently from giving Friday sermon (khutbah) in the Perak State Mosque in Ipoh purportedly by the Crown Prince of Perak (presumably representing the Sultan of Perak as the Head of Islamic Affairs in the state) on the ground that mosques should not be used for political purposes. Was the restriction decreed purely by the Perak Palace or was it done under political pressures from the local UMNO leaders ? It is a common practice of UMNO to exercise such restriction in states controlled by them, but Perak is now under the People's Front rule headed by a Chief Minister from PAS (Note : PAS also has her chief ministerialship in Kedah and Kelantan states respectively).
To my personal knowledge, these renowned religious scholars and leaders are not known to have abused the Friday sermons as political platforms.
If it is from the Palace, the Crown Prince must have been ill-advised in issuing the restriction which effectively segregates Islam from politics. But Islam is wholesome, it is a complete way of life. How could politics be separated from Islam ? Only the secularists like UMNO would subscribe to this notion of separation.

Muqabalah with DAP

Now that PAS leadership has renounced any possibility of merger talks with UMNO much to the relief of anxious members of PAS at the grassroot levels. Their mission to dislodge UMNO and BN from the seat of power is not accomplished yet. In this light, the political onslaughts against UMNO/BN must be sustained more concertedly in collaboration with PKR (People's Justice Party) and DAP (Democratic Action Party) respectively under the banner of the People's Front (Pakatan Rakyat, PR). They have the resolve to get the job done.
I see this tri-partite scheme of things is an opportune window for PAS to reach out to DAP to clarify the idealisms which PAS upholds in a 'muqabalah' with DAP leadership. The People's Front shall be strengthened further if rough edges between PAS and DAP could be smoothened out cordially and amicably on the principles of the Convenant of Madinah. This 'treaty' was essentially an agreement entered into during the time of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. between the Muslims and the Jews in Madinah to govern their relationship. The Jews were identified in the Holy Quran as "the people of the Scripture".
Membership of the DAP comprises largely Chinese and, to a lesser proportion, Indians who are Buddhists and Hindus respectively by their religious affiliation, although a small number among the two communities profess Christianity. But unlike the Jews, the Buddhists and Hindus are not categorised as 'the people of the Scripture' though.
According to the Covenant of Madinah, the religion and the properties of the Jews were recognised legally and given protection. The Jews who were allied to the Muslims and entered into peace were entitled to equal treatment and assistance and they should suffer no injustice nor crime (the aggressors and the criminals were excepted). The perpetrators of such acts prejudiced themselves and their immediate relatives. Each party shall advise and counsel the other for the good as opposed to the evil. Assistance belonged to the sufferer of injustice, not its perpetrators.
The Covenant was a protection against treachery, but no protection was here implied for the perpetrator of injustice or crime. It formed the basis of a New Social (world) Order built on peace, a peace built upon reason. Under this New World Order, the non-Muslims may enjoin the Muslims as equal citizens of the State. Their religion, culture, social, economic and political institutions and properties remained intact. But they must however renounce aggressions against the State and isolationism.
It promoted peaceful interchanges on religious, intellectual and cultural levels among the people which formed the substance of freedom, the freedom to convince others of one's views as well as to be convinced of theirs. The non-Muslims were not only free to present their case but were invited to do so.
The Muslims did not give up their duty to call the non-Muslims to Islam, but their call was conducted 'with wisdom and comely presentation'. Under no case whatsoever may any human be coerced or pressured to change his religion.

" (There is) no coercion in religion. Truth and error are manifest. Whoever wishes to accept the Faith may do so at his own accord and will to his own personal credit. Whoever does not may do so to his own personal discredit (with God)" [Quran 2 : 256]

In PAS' single-minded pursuit to establish Islamic Law in the country, the concerns, fears and anxiety of the Buddhists, the Hindus and the Christians in Malaysia should not be sidelined or ignored. They should be encouraged to establish their own religious courts to hear cases of their adherents according to their own laws respectively.
Under the Covenant of Madina, the Jews were required to set up their own court of law to judge themselves by the precepts of Jewish Laws according to the Torah.


Reference : Ismail Rajhi al-Faruqi : Islam and the Problem of Israel
The Other Press, Kuala Lumpur (2003)

Passing the Baton

Wan Azizah Ismail, the Parliamentary Opposition Leader, has resigned as an MP to pave the way for Anwar Ibrahim, her husband, to stand for a by-election in Permatang Pauh constituency much to the chagrin of UMNO leaders. This is the first step taken by Anwar in his quest to become the next Prime Minister of Malaysia comes 16th September 2008. Mahathir Mohamed, a former premier, has lauded the move as a symbol of love of a wife for a husband, barely displaying any overtone of sarcasm against Wan Azizah nor Anwar.
But Syed Hamid Albar, the Minister of Home Affairs, and Noraini Ahmad, the Deputy Minister of Human Resources, both of the ruling UMNO, have slammed the resignation as a betrayal of voters' trust and a waste of public money (in running a fresh election). They must be talking through their ar*** !! Are they oblivious of the fact that the People's Front is now working hard to topple the present government of Abdullah Badawi by garnering supports from the National Front's MPs through defections ? They must be very, very naive if they are.
Any layman in the street could easily read Wan Azizah's manoeuvre as a strategic move to facilitate the path for Anwar to take over the premiership. What's wrong with that ?

Nearly Agree means Never Agree

The spin-doctors are at work again. After a denial from Dr. Hasan Ali of BN's offer of chief ministerialship of Selangor to PAS, a mainstream tabloid aligned to UMNO today front-paged Ustaz Nik Aziz, PAS Spiritual Leader, as having nearly agreed to talks with UMNO on the possibility of forming a state government in Perak, another state which has been wrested by the People's Front (comprising PKR, PAS and DAP) from UMNO/BN after the March 2008 General Elections. What do they mean by 'nearly agreed' ? Is Nik Aziz is so unprincipled and fickle that he could easily be sweet-talked into changing his political stand and conviction at a moment's notice and when the sentiments and the mood of PAS grassroot members in general are not in favour of cooperating with UMNO politically ?
I think PAS should rather spend time more beneficially to hold muqabalah (or even muzakarah) with DAP stalwarts along the spirits of the Covenant of Madinah than wasting time and resources with UMNO heads who are known to be synonymous with dishonest wheelings and dealings in the past.

Viva AKP !!!

I thank Allah the Almighty for sparing the ADALET ve KALKINMA PARTISI (or AKP, the Justice and Development Party) of Turkey from being banned/outlawed by the Constitutional Court. I would not dare to anticipate the turmoils it could have precipitated had the court decided otherwise, but I could imagine the faces of relief from the AKP leadership. I wish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan the best of health and be blessed with the energy and strength to continue with what AKP struggles for (I used to drive him and his wife, Amine, in my car round KL when they were on a private visit here).
It was a close call for the AKP when 6 of the 11 judges of the Constitutional Court voted for the ban, but it needed 7 to acquiesce the prosecution's case. The prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, also sought to bar Erdogan and his 69 MP's from active politics for 5 years.

Muqabalah, Not Muzakarah

At the rate things are going right now, PAS should immediately cease from making any contact with UMNO in the spirits of the People's Front (Pakatan Rakyat, PR) unity. PAS should demonstrate its commitment and sincerity to its pledge of collaboration with PKR made prior to the March Elections. The pact was made in an effort to mount a concerted and formidable challenge to UMNO/BN in the elections. DAP came into the fold at the behest of PKR to consolidate popular opposition against the ruling party. PAS was not privy to the political pact between PKR and DAP. Chronologically speaking, the PAS-PKR pact came into existence before that of PKR and DAP.

The electoral pacts were essentially centred on the allocation of statal and parliamentary seats to be contested by each party respectively against the UMNO/BN. In the first round of negotiations for seats, only PAS and PKR were involved. The pact between PKR and DAP came into the picture after PAS had identified and ascertained the seats they wanted to contest. DAP was left to negotiate with PKR for the remaining seats decidedly not contested by PAS.

In the spirits of the political pact between PAS and PKR, the former should never have consented to meet up with UMNO immediately after the Elections to discuss a political alliance to form a new Selangor State Government to be led by PAS. To me it was tantamount to an act of mala fide. Very distasteful or even unIslamic to some extent.
It will not be a big surprise if DAP wants to review the role & involvement of PAS in the PR if the latter wishes to continue dialogues with UMNO under whatever pretext.
In so doing, DAP must take cognisance of the fact that the PAS-PKR pact takes precedence over the secondary PKR-DAP pact. And I don't think PKR wants to forgo PAS at the expense of immediately losing the new tri-partite State Governments of Selangor and Perak.