With ‘friends’ like PAS’ president Hadi Awang creating distrust and sowing seeds of confusion and discord, there is little need for Umno Baru to plant moles in Pakatan.

In the end, it was Umno Baru which stuck the knife in Hadi’s back. In the Pengkalan Kubor by-election, Umno Baru capitalised on his derogatory remarks about two PAS assemblypersons, in his mishandling of the Selangor menteri besar saga. The irony is that during the hustings, Hadi had warned against treachery.

Contrary to popular belief, the people of Selangor are not the ‘losers’ in the appointment of the MB; Selangor remains under Pakatan and the coalition is still made up of three parties, PKR, DAP and PAS, although their unity is extremely fragile.

The behind-the-scenes, political manoeuvring by Umno Baru to destabilise the Selangor government has failed. The betrayal, by the PAS politicians and their failure to act as a team, inflicted severe damage on PAS more than on their coalition partners. The role of the sultan, especially his recent statement stating his support for the former MB, has been quietly scrutinised by his subjects.

For every cause, there will be an effect. Any unintended consequences may not happen now, but in the future.

Although the MB’s appointment exposed the internal divisions within PAS and the coalition, this saga has presented the parties with a golden opportunity to reform. As we rush towards GE14, they need to work on their weaknesses and build on their strengths. The blessing is that this imbroglio happened now. If it had happened in the few months before GE14, Pakatan would have been doomed.

PAS politicians need to do some serious soul-searching. This is Malaysia, where treachery is rampant, betrayal common, where qualities like integrity, respect and decency are not highly rated, and where promises are easily made and conveniently broken.

Were the hardliners in PAS starry eyed by the promises of Najib Abdul Razak? Were the conservative elements in PAS emboldened by the antics in the middle-east, of an extremist group, calling themselves the ‘Islamic State’ (IS)? IS is not a state. The violence and barbarism displayed by IS does not represent Islam.

The conservatives in PAS may wish to set up a caliphate but if PAS refuses to modernise, and be relevant to every Malaysian, then they can forget about receiving the support of the rakyat, Muslim or otherwise.

The recent display by the conservatives, have put both Malays and Muslims to shame. Former PM Mahathir Mohamad had an outburst, a fortnight ago, and called the Malays deceitful, dishonest and lazy. He might as well have been describing PAS.

Are Najib and Hadi in collusion, or does Hadi secretly admire Najib? Hadi appears to take his cue from Najib with his U-turns, back-tracking and long bouts of silence.

For weeks, Hadi refused to say why he rejected the nomination of the PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for MB. Hadi appeared to be emulating Najib, who refuses to discuss serious political problems and prefers to maintain silence.

Character assassinations

When Hadi finally revealed his reasons for rejecting Wan Azizah, his personal attacks damaged his reputation more than Wan Azizah’s. Was it a coincidence that Najib also launched an attack on DAP’s Dyana Sofia Mohd Daud?

The timing of the two attacks, by two elderly men, against two women, are suspicious. Only an extremely naïve person would exclude the sexist element from these character assassinations.

On Aug14, PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali stressed that “gender was not the reason” for Wan Azizah’s rejection. Then on Sept 17, the PAS ulama wing told an online newspaper that Wan Azizah’s rejection was because of her gender, and two other issues. Flip-flopping is another Najib trait.

 

Now that the dust has settled over Selangor, Pakatan should emerge stronger than ever, but only if they address the serious issues now. The PAS Youth wing has expressed a desire to leave Pakatan. They should not be dissuaded from leaving.

PAS needs to rethink. Bombastic speeches warning of fire and brimstone of hell, belong to a different era. People want substance, not religious fatalism. PAS has a tendency to try to distract the rakyat with hudud, or the length of one’s skirt, or the sexual proclivities of a singer.

Even in the rural heartlands, the bread and butter issues matter most. Who is going to put money on the table? Is there money to send children to school? Where will the money to pay for medicine come from? What job opportunities are available?

Hadi ( right ) believes himself more important than his party, or the people. His scaremongering, his religious rhetoric and his intransigence have been rejected even in the PAS heartlands of Kelantan. He has left a coalition divided by his presence. He is not inclusive and has a track record of losing seats and states to Umno Baru.

On Sept 20, Hadi reinforced his decision to reject Wan Azizah and said, “I might be dragged to Hell. I am not ready to drag all of you to Hell. That is why we had to interfere.”

Hadi’s rhetoric is shocking but what is worse is that women’s groups and other people have not condemned his remarks. Hadi’s speech bears the hallmarks of the Umno Baru ulamas.

What basis does Hadi have for his remarks? Women in Islam are equal to men. So there is no religious impediment to a woman being MB of Selangor, or any other state. Originally he said that Wan Azizah’s sex was not an issue. Why is he now contradicting himself? One of his statements must be an untruth!

If the results of Pengkalan Kubor are a reflection of Hadi’s leadership and PAS wants to remain a relevant party in multiracial, 21st century Malaysia, then hard decisions must be made. GE14 is around the corner. Hadi is another politician who has failed to deliver and he should go.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).