"We are investigating Selangor".

These are the words uttered by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang while announcing an investigation will be conducted by the Islamic party's disciplinary committee headed by vice-president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

However, when asked who in Selangor is going to be investigated, he declined to elaborate.

Pressed further by reporters at the press conference just after last night's special meeting on whether the controversial Selangor commissioner Hasan Ali is one of those to be probed, Hadi stonewalled and replied simply, "Selangor... Selangor"

He also refused to give details as to what the disciplinary committee is going to investigate.

Instead, he asked the assembled reporters to refer to earlier media reports on the matter.

"There is no need for me to repeat the allegations further," he added.

But if the speculation from among the pro-PAS blogs are to be believed, then Hasan may be on his way out.

khalid ibrahim pc 120809 01 If the blogs are to be believed, then the impending disciplinary council probe may be a witch hunt in disguise aimed at rooting out the Selangor PAS commissioner.

For one, speculation is rife that he may be given the boot by the Selangor government, his exco post stripped and given to an amenable candidate that will play ball with the state government.

After all, it was Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim from PKR who recently said, "Even though we are in the same team, somebody may be playing rugby and not football."

It has been widely speculated that the ‘somebody' he mentioned is Hasan Ali.

Unruffling feathers

This move, the bloggers believe, would smooth the ruffled feathers of PAS' Pakatan partners PKR and DAP, who have been at the receiving end of Hasan's bludgeon after the ‘ alcohol ' issue and his recent brouhaha on ‘Selcat' proceedings.

Given that it was the first issue dealt with at last night's special meeting, then strengthening Pakatan may dovetail perfectly with removing the controversial exco who has long been a pebble in the boot of the Selangor Pakatan government.

NONE This would also tally with the groundswell of the more moderate PAS members, especially among the urban Malays, who the blogs say, mainly agree with PAS spiritual advisor Tok Guru Nik Aziz's (right) opinion that Hasan's hardline stance is ‘problematic'.

But more conservative members have stood up in Hasan's defense.

More importantly for the Islamic party, if it is to really be a ‘PAS for all', it may need to get rid of the abrasive Hasan to make it more appealing to the non-Muslims, many of whom has expressed their displeasure with his antics.

Some even placed the blame for the Bagan Pinang loss at the Selangor commissioner's feet. His extremists antics being blamed for whittling away non-Muslim support for PAS.

Replacing Hasan with a more mainstream figure like Khalid Samad for example, and less tainted with ties to Umno or associated with the unity government, may help to stabilize the tumultuous landscape of PAS in Selangor.

Hasan, a scapegoat?

But no matter how appropriate it would be for PAS to rid itself of Hasan, there are also some who speculate that he is being made a scapegoat for the sins of his superiors.

isa samad interview 150509 A fate, some say, is similar to what once befell the newly-elected Umno Bagan Pinang ADUN Mohd Isa Abdul Samad (left) .

When Mohd Isa was punished by Umno's disciplinary committee for money politics in 2004, it was widely speculated that others were also implicated but no action was taken.

They say that his case was made an example to underscore Umno's seriousness in combating money politics, which was then and perhaps still, a favourite pastime among Umno politicians.

As in Isa's case, it may be that the other names, higher in rank than Hasan, labeled by Nik Aziz as ‘problematic' may just get off scot free.

Certain quarters are calling for a blanket investigation to root out all the problems instead of this skewed and single ‘barreled investigation'.

Bitter pill for party?

But Hasan as scapegoat may not be the only bitter pill for some to swallow.

There those who complain that the political seminar planned this November is the wrong kind of medicine for the ills that are plaguing the party.

Some are asking why the members are being told to attend the seminar when the real problem, they say, lies with the leadership at the top.

If this the case then, the seminar may jut be an attempt to ‘brainwash' the members into accepting what the leadership have cooked up.

One might even call it an attempt to hijack the party's agenda.

Selangor PAS welcomes investigation

Meanwhile, Selangor PAS welcomed the decision made during last night's special meeting to investigate the party apparatus .

It said that it is open to any "action taken to restore the party's image."

In an emailed statement to the media, the Selangor PAS Liaison secretary Mohd Khairuddin Othman, hoped that this will "root out the troublesome elements within PAS in Selangor."

He urged the disciplinary committee to investigate the matter thoroughly and take stern action against those found guilty.

Khairuddin also called for all state members to cooperate with the investigation team and to stop discussing the issues until the investigation process and indictments, if any, are over.