PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has compared the confidence and supply agreement (CSA) signed between the government and a group of opposition MPs to the deception of the Dajjal, prompting PKR Youth chief Kamil Munim to accuse the party of double standards.
In Islamic eschatology, the Dajjal is a false messiah figure whose coming is seen as a major sign that the end of the world is near. In a statement on Nov 3, Hadi said the agreement bore the Dajjal’s traits because power was no longer treated as a trust held for the good of all, but as a means of pressuring others to keep the government in office. He added that any party in government was duty-bound to serve the people without needing additional pledges.
Kamil replied on Facebook the same day, pointing out that the government of former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, which included PAS, signed a memorandum of understanding with Pakatan Harapan on Sept 13, 2021. He said that document, though called an MoU, carried elements of a CSA and was meant to keep the government stable and get the budget passed, yet nobody invoked the Dajjal at the time. People could disagree over the CSA’s terms and how it is carried out, he said, but religious terms should not be used to condemn an arrangement PAS accepted while in power.
Under the 2021 MoU, the government undertook not to dissolve Parliament before July 31, 2022, while PH agreed to support or abstain on the 2022 budget and not to back any motion amounting to a vote of no confidence. Kamil is also political secretary to the finance minister.
The CSA, signed on Oct 29, binds six Bersatu MPs led by party president Muhyiddin Yassin, together with Muda’s Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, to support Budget 2027. In return, they receive the same constituency development allocations as government backbenchers. Six independent MPs who had earlier declared support for the prime minister also signed.
The agreement also sets out two reforms for the government to deliver before the parliamentary term ends: a limit on the prime minister’s tenure and the separation of the attorney-general’s and public prosecutor’s roles. Muhyiddin has said Bersatu stays in the opposition and will continue to provide checks and balances.
Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said on Nov 2 that the coalition would not sign a CSA merely to gain access to constituency funds and that the Bersatu MPs who signed did not represent PN’s official stand. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said the CSA is open to all opposition MPs, while Deputy Prime Minister and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has called for it to be extended to other opposition parties.