The current PAS leadership does not represent a true Islamic political party, and at times even embarrasses the religion, said a former leader of the party.

 

Speaking to Malaysiakini , Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli said this was due to the behaviour of the party leaders.

 

"Collectively, we strongly believe that PAS, or rather the leaders, have come to a point where their positioning and behaviour do not represent a true Islamic political party.

 

"At times, this embarrasses Islam in the eyes of the public, Muslims or non-Muslims," Hatta said.

 

He added that the matter had been debated within the party, but he has not seen any serious effort to rectify the situation.

 

"On the contrary, opposing and dissenting ideas are construed as going against the ulama," the former PAS election director said.

 

Asked to elaborate on how the party had embarrassed Islam, Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad ( photo ) cited a few examples, including PAS' decision to contest in the PKR seat of Kota Damansara during the last general election.

 

PSM chairperson Dr Nasir Hashim was supposed to defend the Selangor state seat for a second term on a PKR ticket, but PAS' entry in the Kota Damansara contest made it six-cornered fight, which ended with victory for BN.

 

"Nasir was the assemblyperson and there were no complaints against him for five years. Then, suddenly in 2013, PAS puts in its own candidate and doesn't give an explanation as to why, besides criticising socialism, and so on and so forth," Khalid told Malaysiakini .

 

The move had been labelled as a betrayal by PAS, and was heavily criticised.

 

Events disrupted

Besides contesting in the seats of others, Khalid said, PAS also embarrassed Islam by disrupting events meant for non-Muslims.

 

"When non-Muslims want to have their own programme, like Oktoberfest, and it is a purely non-Muslim function, but you try to stop it, it is embarrassing because you don't respect the rights of the non-Muslims.

 

"That's okay if you want to do it in Mecca, Madinah or in Saudi Arabia. But here, it is a totally different ballgame," he said, noting that PAS could have just made sure that Muslims were not invited to such events, and that it was not held somewhere that had a heavy Muslim presence.

 

Hatta and Khalid are part of the New Hope (Harapan Baru) movement established by progressive leaders, who are mulling to form a more inclusive Islamist party to replace PAS in a new political coalition with PKR and DAP.

 

Khalid has said that the party would be open to non-Muslims who are willing to adhere to the party's Islamic-based struggles, which includes fighting corruption and upholding justice.

 

"We are not here to fight, but to put up an alternative image of an Islamic political party, a democratic and inclusive brand," Hatta said.