Mustafa: Hasan and Nasha caught in Umno's web

PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali has lashed out at some party leaders who he said have fallen into Umno’s trap and are dancing to the tune of the Islamic party’s arch-enemy.

Specifically, he hit out at former Selangor party commissioner Hasan Ali and former deputy president Nasharuddin Md Isa, who had made comments detrimental to the party.

"I surmise that they both have been caught in Umno’s web, which is sabotaging the party. Whether they realise it or not, they are dancing to the tune of the enemy’s agenda.

"This is unbecoming and not good for the party, despite not leaving any major impact,” Mustafa told Harakahdaily , the Islamic party’s organ, today.

He posited that the two leaders, who had lost their positions in the last round of the party elections, may be doing it out of frustration.

"I think this is because they are frustrated that they were not re-elected to their former posts.

Nasharuddin recently spoke out against what he claimed were ‘weird’ developments in PAS’ internal politics.

In particular, he hit out at some in the party who he said liked to jump the gun in revealing internal party matters to the public.

Though he did not name names, it was clear from what Nasharuddin told Berita Harian that he was lashing out at Selangor PAS information chief Saari Sungib's disclosure of the lack of nominations for Hasan, which saw him not being nominated by the branches to defend his Gombak Setia state seat.

Meanwhile, Hasan had said that he would continue to cooperate with PAS and Pakatan as long as they continued to defend the Malays, Islam and the monarchy, a statement that Mustafa said made it appear as if Hasan is questioning the party’s commitment to Islam.

Hasan said this while responding to Saari's disclosure on his lack of branch nominations.

The former Selangor party commissioner also said that he would continue to work towards uniting Malays and Muslims, and to politically bridge PAS and Umno.

However, Mustafa insisted that statements from both leaders would not damage PAS as its members fully supported the Islamic policies of the party and not individuals.

“Working to undermine the party is not right, even if the effect is slight. PAS will not be affected much. PAS had even lost a president once and the members did not follow the individual, but stayed on as they followed party policies,” he said.

The secretary-general also issued a reminder to party leaders not to disclose internal party matters, such as the nominations, to the press, as these were matters decided upon by the Syura Council and only the president could announce them.

Mahfuz points the way out to Hasan Ali