Three reasons why Dr. Rani Osman should withdraw as a candidate in Sungai Besar by-election to ensure that the AMANAH candidate Azhar Shukur can give a big blow to Najib and UMNO/BN to save Malaysia

At the Pakatan Harapan Majlis Iftar Perdana at Sungai Panjang earlier in the evening, the Selangor Mentri Besar and PKR Deputy President, Azmin Ali, declared his support for the AMANAH candidate, Azhar Shukor for the Sungai Besar parliamentary by-election on Saturday.

Azmin offered well wishes to the PAS candidate for the Sungai Besar by-election Dr. Rani Osman, who is also PAS Selangor Assemblyman for Meru, who was also present at the Iftar Perdana, expressing the hope that Rani “forges ahead with the determination that despotism must be dismantled”.

When the Sungai Besar by-election first became the subject of public discussion, the by-election was regarded as a contest between UMNO/BN and PAS, and Amanah/Pakatan Harapan was not in the reckoning.

We have past the half-way mark in the by-election campaign, and it is now very clear that the Sungai Besar contest is in fact between UMNO/BN and Amanah/Pakatan Harapan candidates, as PAS does not stand any chance of winning the seat.

In fact, I had publicly estimated that the PAS candidate would lose by some 10,000 votes in the by-election as compared to the PAS vote in the 2013 General Election result, a prediction no PAS leader dared to publicly challenge or refute.

The best way to “dismantle” the “despotism in Putrajaya” is to ensure that UMNO/BN is defeated in the Sungai Besar by-election, and the best way to ensure such an outcome is for Rani to withdraw from the Sungai Besar by-election to ensure a “one-to-one” contest in the by-election on Saturday.

There are three reasons why Rani should withdraw as a candidate in the three-cornered contest in the Sungai Besar by-election to ensure that the AMANAH candidate Azhar Shukur can give a big blow to Najib Razak and UMNO/BN to save Malaysia.

Firstly, PAS can only play the spoiler’s role in the Sungai Besar by-election, as there is no possibility that PAS can win the Sungai Besar by-election when no PAS leader dare to contradict or refute my forecast that PAS is likely to lose some 10,000 votes as compared to the votes polled by the PAS candidate in the 2013 General Election, when the PAS candidate was standing not just for PAS but for Pakatan Rakyat’s three component parties of PAS, PKR and DAP.

Secondly, with PAS in the third place, the only way to defeat UMNO/BN is to unite every opposition vote behind the AMANAH/PH candidate. In these circumstances, a vote for PAS can only be a vote to help UMNO/BN to beat AMANAH/Pakatan Harapan and to win in Sungai Besar by-election.

Thirdly, Rani should set an example to all PAS leaders, members and supporters that in the political crisis facing Malaysia, they should act as Malaysian patriots together with leaders and members from all political parties, including UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC to rise above party politics to save Malaysia from Najib’s twin global mega scandals – the RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” scandals – and to unite Malaysians of diverse races, religions, cultures and languages to build a just, democratic, God-fearing, progressive and prosperous Malaysian nation.

I have no doubt that AMANAH would welcome Rani to join the party as one of the leaders to bring about change in Malaysia. Even PKR. DAP will also welcome Dr. Rani to join our ranks if he so chooses.

Dr. Rani is a good man but PAS led by Hadi may not be the best political party for Malaysia.

I still cannot understand two things, firstly, why Hadi is so loyal and supportive of Najib, becoming the only Opposition leader to defend Najib in the Prime Minister’s two global scandals.

Other PAS leaders have criticised the 1MDB and “donation” scandals, but Hadi has demonstrated that he has the final say in PAS and that without his endorsement, whatever other PAS leaders (even the PAS Deputy President) say is not the final PAS policy – which is why Pakatan Rakyat disintegrated.

Secondly, the motive for the Najib-Hadi conspiracy resulting in the Ministerial motion in Parliament on May 26 to fast-track Hadi’s hudud bill.

As many prominent Malaysian Muslims have pointed out, the motion moved by Hadi in Parliament on May 26 was Hadi’s hudud bill, which is not Allah’s law.

If the Hadi’s motion is about Allah’s law, then Najib and all UMNO MPs must give it 100% support or they will become bad Muslims.

Muslims will not oppose or reject Allah’s law, but it is a different matter if it is a man-made law, like Hadi’s hudud law.

Terengganu under Hadi as Mentri Besar after the 1999 general election enacted the Terengganu hudud enactment, but in the 2004 general election, the PAS Government with Hadi as Mentri Besar was rejected by the voters of Terengganu, who returned UMNO to power in the state.

Is Hadi saying that the Muslims of Terengganu had rejected Allah’s law? No, they only rejected Hadi’s hudud enactment.

Similarly, the Kelantan hudud enactment is PAS Kelantan’s hudud law not Allah’s law.

If the Kelantan hudud enactment is Allah’s law, then it cannot be amended. But the Kelantan hudud enactment was amended by the Kelantan PAS Government in the Kelantan State Assembly last year – illustrating that it was man-made law and not Allah’s law.

Furthermore, how can the Kelantan hudud enactment be different from the Terengganu hudud enactment passed by the PAS governments in the two states, if they are Allah’s law?

One matter which intrigued me is how Hadi’s hudud law will deal with big-time crooks and corrupt leaders who steal the people’s funds not just in hundreds or thousands of ringgit, but in billions or tens of billions of ringgit like the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal or the RM4.2 billion “donation” scandal.

Hadi’s hudud law will not affect these two global financial scandals – another proof that it cannot be Allah’s law but only Hadi’s law!

(Speech at the Pakatan Harapan Sungai Besar by-election ceramah at Sungai Besar town on Tuesday, 14th June 2016 at 11.30 pm)