KOTA BARU, 11 Sept 2008: PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said Pakatan Rakyat will benefit should Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad rejoins Umno as there will be "chaos within Umno."
"It will be exciting to see him creating chaos," he told reporters at his office here.
He was asked to comment on the statement by Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on 9 Sept 2008 that the former prime minister had expressed his wish to rejoin Umno, the party he left after the March 8 general election, citing disappointment with the current leadership.
Nik Aziz said it would be better for Mahathir "to attack Umno from within".
"I’m excited as this will weaken Umno. I don’t understand it when he left Umno to attack Pak Lah (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi). I don’t see the logic of attacking Umno from the outside… now he can confront the party from within," he said.
Asked on the move by Umno to suspend the membership of Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail for his racially sensitive remarks, Nik Abdul Aziz said the government, not Umno, should have acted on the matter.
"If it were another person, he would have been taken action under the Internal Security Act. It seems unfair," he said.
On party-hopping, Nik Abdul Aziz said, it was a dishonourable thing to do and tantamount to betraying the people’s trust.
However, he said, in the efforts to form the new government on 16 Sept, honour should be put aside in order to free the country of Barisan Nasional, and in particular Umno which he claimed was tainted by corruption. – Bernama
