Although DAP has been ditched by PAS and belittled by the party’s former deputy president Mohamad Sabu, it continues to hinge on to the Islamist party for the sake of political survival.

MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai pointed out that it was PAS that severed ties with DAP first, contrary to what DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and adviser Lim Kit Siang claimed.

“We want to remind Guan Eng that it was PAS that first severed ties with DAP, and not the other way around.

“All the prominent media had reported that on June 3, 2015, PAS’ Dewan Ulama had raised an emergency motion and announced that it would sever ties with DAP.

“Only 13 days later, on June 16 did Guan Eng announce that Pakatan Rakyat no longer existed,” Liow said in a statement.

The delayed reaction, he added, was proof that Guan Eng still hoped to patch up the broken alliance with PAS.

Liow also pointed out that DAP embraced the Mat Sabu-led Amanah party, despite being insulted by the latter during PAS’ party polls last year.

In an attempt to garner support, Mat Sabu had said: “Don’t worry about DAP, they are small. We can knee them, elbow them and when they succumb, we can then karate them, after which we can recite the tahlil for them.”

In spite of that, DAP welcomed the newly-formed Amanah into the fold, which was led by a man who had recently insulted them, added Liow.

He pointed out that the DAP had betrayed the Chinese as the party misled the community into supporting PAS.

PAS had only existed in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah but with the help of DAP, it made inroads throughout the whole of the peninsula, he said.

Having at least one MP or assemblyman in each state in the peninsula except for Negri Sembilan, PAS grew bolder and began pushing for its hudud agenda, he said.

“DAP is the culprit for the advan­cement of PAS’ hudud, yet they continue to slander MCA. MCA will definitely not take the blame. We will continue to use reason to counter DAP’s accusations,” Liow said.

The drama between DAP and PAS unfolded last March, when cracks began to appear between the Paka­tan Rakyat allies over PAS’ insistence on implementing its hudud agenda.

Then, Guan Eng proceeded to “cut ties” with the PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, but not the Islamist party itself.

Even so, both political parties continue to work together as a part of the Selangor state government.

If PAS were to leave the state government, it would throw the Pakatan-led government into a near-stalemate with the Opposition, as both sides would have almost the same number of assemblymen.

-The Star-