PAS spiritual leader Haron Din’s remark that elected representatives who support Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) were enjoying “illegal” ( haram ) salaries was not taken lightly by his targets.

 

Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa urged Haron to go easy on such ‘fatwa’ as the salaries and allowances of elected representatives go to feed their families.

 

“This salary goes to feed my wife and children,” said Mujahid, during his speech at a Hari Raya open house organised by Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (Pasma) in Komtar last night.

 

The former PAS central committee member asked why was his salary illegal when he supports Pakatan Rakyat, the former opposition coalition which was formed in 2008 by DAP, PAS and PKR.

 

“I would like to ask in return - there are elected representatives in Pakatan who are not friendly to Pakatan and who sometimes attack Pakatan, what about their salaries?

 

“Is that legal ( sah )? Did they win their seats on a Pakatan ticket or merely on a PAS ticket? The answer is they won on a Pakatan ticket,” added Mujahid, chairman of Penang GHB pro-tem committee, which was announced last week.

 

Mujahid cited the example of his victory in Parit Buntar, Perak, in the 2013 national polls, where he managed to capture about 26,000 votes, and won with a majority of 8,000.

 

He claimed that 80 percent of the 26,000 votes came from the Chinese community, 10 percent from Indians and the rest from Malays, some of whom are also PAS members. He noted that there were 4,000 PAS members in Parit Buntar.

 

“If we minus all the 4,000 PAS members, I still have a majority of 4,000. Where do I put my face when it comes to these 4,000 who voted for me as these votes do not just come from PAS members?” he queried.

 

“We should instead ask the elected reps who do not support Pakatan, who voted for them?”

 

Loyalty oath

 

Haron was quoted as saying in yesterday’s Sinar Harian that the salaries and allowances of elected representatives who supported GHB were “illegal” if they were determined to join the new movement.

 

He said the seats held by those who now plan to form a splinter party were won under PAS banner in the last polls.

 

These are the 18 ‘progressive’ elected reps, dubbed the ‘Group of 18’, who were defeated in the party’s internal polls in June.

 

They were prompted to form a new Islamic party to replace PAS in a new opposition coalition as they claimed PAS has deviated from its principles and was more inclined to work with arch-rival Umno.

 

Haron also advised those who took the loyalty oath ( bai’ah ) to reflect deeply on it as the oath was made before Allah.

 

“If there were betrayal, they have betrayed Allah. What more, the oath mentions salaries and allowances which become haram (illegal) when the oath has been broken,” he added.

 

Attended by about 150, the event last night was opened by Mohamed Sabu, former PAS deputy chief, who currently leads GHB.

 

Others who at the event included Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia chairperson Phahrolrazi Ismail, state GHB deputy chief 1 Zukliflee Lazim, committee member Major Zaidi Ahmad, and PKR leaders - Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Rashid Hasnon, state executive councillor and Seberang Jaya assemblyman Dr Afif Bahardin and Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin.