Sunday April 28, 2013

GE13: Don’t vote for PAS, says DAP man

By NELSON BENJAMIN
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

Johor DAP deputy chairman Norman Fernandez says non-Muslims should refl ect on whether they want to risk it all with PAS.

JOHOR BARU: The number two man in Johor DAP has dropped a bombshell by dramatically urging voters to reject PAS in the general election, saying that the state could not gamble and risk its future with the Islamist party.

“I, for one, have finally made up my mind and am convinced that PAS does not deserve my vote,” said Johor DAP deputy chairman Norman Fernandez.

The senior DAP leader said “non-Muslims must realise that PAS will do what it has set out to do if it gains power”.

“The question for non-Muslims is whether non-Muslims are prepared to risk it all with PAS.

“Johoreans and particularly non-Muslims must think hard and deep if PAS is really worthy of their votes,” he said in an article written for the blog syedoutsidethebox.blogspot.com yesterday.

In the hard hitting article, he said “PAS' unilateral stand and the deep reluctance to be a true partner in Pakatan Rakyat and the unwillingness to subscribe to its ideals let alone agree and accept the common manifesto of PR must be enough to convince non-Muslims the grave danger of risking their votes for PAS.”

When contacted, Fernandez confirmed that he had written the article, saying it was his individual view.

The lawyer has been critical of PAS as he had also written in his blog in January that the “DAP can no longer be an apologist for PAS” and that it “must not be complicit to PAS' evil plans”.

He had written that the “DAP must realise that PAS is no longer an honest, viable partner of Pakatan and must be courageous to admit it. In 1999, DAP took a courageous stand and once again DAP must take a stand.”

He reminded his members and voters that “the recent events in Egypt must be a reminder to non-Muslims”.

“There, the people's revolution was hijacked by Islamist and having taken power, the Islamist have moved to subjugate non-Muslims and non-Muslims are fast losing their rights and identity in Islamist Egypt,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, sources close to Fernandez said he was prepared to face the consequences of his article.

They said he had taken a courageous stand on a matter of principle after studying the implications of a PAS-led federal government should PR win the elections.

For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

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Sunday April 28, 2013

GE13: Don’t vote for PAS, says DAP man

By NELSON BENJAMIN newsdesk@thestar.com.my

By NELSON BENJAMIN
newsdesk@thestar.com.my