As expected, newly-elected PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu - popularly known as Mat Sabu - has barely spent ten days as the party’s number two when heckles have already risen among those opposing the purported ‘Marxist’ PAS leader.

NONE Reacting to Mat Sabu’s remarks in a recent interview with Malaysiakini , the political secretary to the Kedah Menteri Besar rebutted claims that PAS-led Kelantan and Kedah were dragging their feet over purported abuse of power and graft by the ruling class, and even members of the party.

Mat Sabu had commented that quarters within PAS justified the taking of graft on the basis that "if PAS does not take it, then Umno will".

In an opinion piece that Malaysiakini published today, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor decried the flawed timing of the former parliamentarian’s criticisms against PAS’ state and internal governance.

He questioned Mat Sabu's silence on such issues before party members went to the polls to elect its top leadership.    

“I agree and will abide, but (forgive me) if such remarks were made before the muktamar, I would believe the new PAS deputy president, not Mohamad (Sabu),” said Sanusi.

NONE Mat Sabu had said that Kelantan and Kedah had a lot to learn from DAP-led Penang, where excos and assemblypersons are barred from applying for government land.

Responding to the suggestion that deals containing conflicts of interest were a common occurrence in the PAS-led states, Sanusi said there has never been a Kedah PAS leader who had ever applied for land.

Neither has there been any state elected representative, exco or leader who had applied for or received a logging concession from the Kedah government, said Sanusi.

On Mat Sabu’s allegation that PAS justified bribes on the basis that Umno would have taken the opportunity otherwise, Sanusi said, “I have not seen that idea or other such wrong views among PAS leaders in Kedah.”

PAS members who do receive logging concessions, meanwhile, are awarded so for their merit, their low bids and in accordance to an open tender system, he added.

NONE Sanusi further said that comparing Kedah and Kelantan to Penang was misplaced, as the latter does not have swathes of forest in which timber can be found.

Incidentally, Sanusi pointed out, the auditor-general had in 2009 recorded a 205 percent rise in logging revenue for Kedah as compared to the previous year.

“This achievement must be the result of close planning by the menteri besar to prove PAS’ and Pakatan's administration is far better than during the Umno/BN era.”

Taking aim at Mat Sabu’s criticisms of those PAS leaders who “chase” and “jostle” for honorary titles as being a throwback to feudalism, Sanusi said the granting of datukships or other such honours is done through a rigorous vetting process.

Far from being able to lobby for them, the intended recipients often have no inkling that they will be given such honours despite the various stages at which their candidacy are considered, said Sanusi.

The final prerogative lies with the state ruler, he added, who has rejected many such candidates for honorary titles.

Sanusi said there has been no PAS leader within his knowledge who has shown any noticeable interest in seeking such titles as to warrant Mat Sabu’s remarks.  

NONE “There have been grouses among PAS members and supporters at the grassroots who are not happy and have complained that despite forming the (state) government, many of those receiving titles and honours are from Umno and BN.

“To me, Mohamad’s remarks should be directed at them (the grassroots), not to the leaders,” he said.

Taking a shot at Mat Sabu’s reputation as a leftist, his remarks about class, and his sympathy for Marxist and Shiite movements, Sanusi noted that Malaysians have inherited a legacy of values and a constitutional monarchy.

“They do not know the culture of Cuba, China, Russia or even Libya or Iran. Penang and DAP, which Mohamad have made as examples in the matter, do not have a sultan, raja or even a royal palace that serves to govern matters of customs, traditions and the cultural lives of their people.”

iran opposition election 260609 01 Expressing his respect for Mat Sabu as a PAS leader who wishes the party to progress and earn the love of the peolple, Sanusi also poked fun at Mat Sabu’s much-touted rapport with DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“Would it not be good for Mohamad in seeking to realise his noble ambitions to get the right information and picture from Kedah and Kelantan leaders, just as he has succeeded in doing so with the leaders of the Penang government?

“If the information that forms the basis of Mohamad’s perspective is derived from the sidelines (rather than the leaders themselves), I fear that his remarks will be meaningless and of no profit at all.”