KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has raised the spectre of Islamist rule, saying that the Chinese community has begun falling back into Barisan Nasional’s (BN) fold as they are now aware that “empowering DAP is paving the road for PAS”.

“It is PAS that is going to be the dominant party. It is PAS that is going to call the shots, it is PAS that will rule the day if they (the opposition) come to power.

“If they come to power, it is PAS that will rule,” the MCA president told The Malaysian Insider during an exclusive interview here last week.

Dr Chua confidently stated this as fact, denying that this was merely the tune the party plans to sing to woo the Chinese vote during the coming general election.

“I wouldn’t say this is a tune. Saying this is a tune that we are singing means we are spinning.

“This is what the Chinese are aware of — that a vote for DAP is empowerment for DAP, strengthening DAP, (and) paving the road for PAS, which may ultimately be even at the central level,” he said.

Dr Chua warned that PAS’s “day of glory” was fast approaching and scoffed at any possibility that PKR would be the more dominant party in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

PKR, he said, could not match its Islamist partner in terms of organisation, party discipline and most importantly, member loyalty, leaving the party to be the weakest of the three in PR.

The outspoken former Health Minister said despite PKR’s confidence in leading the opposition pact’s march to Putrajaya, the party had faced the largest number of defections from key leaders.

“PKR is probably the only party in the world who is so confident of marching to Putrajaya, the only party that would claim of overwhelming victory, but has the most problems.

“It is the only party that is supposed to emerge supreme but yet the number of those deserting PKR is frightening — 50 senior leaders left, including 12 or 13 elected representatives who have openly said they have burnt bridges with PKR,” Dr Chua said.

Election 2008 saw PKR become the largest opposition party in Parliament with a total of 31 MPs as BN suffered its worst performance at the polls ever, ceding five state governments and 82 parliamentary seats.

But despite taking the lion’s share of seats among its partners DAP and PAS, the multiracial party suffered the most number of party defections since the polls.

It went on to lose its Hulu Selangor seat in a by-election, before six of its MPs turned independent, rendering DAP the opposition’s biggest block in Parliament with 28 lawmakers.

To prevent a repeat, PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said the party would field 40 per cent new candidates in the coming polls, promising to field more educated professionals instead of activists.