After days of attack from the pro-BN mainstream media over the issue of Pakatan Rakyat’s future prime minister, PAS has moved to dispel the polemic by hitting out at the media for misinterpreting party president Abdul Hadi Awang’s remark on the issue.

NONE PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali ( right ) also clarified that it is not the party’s official stance to endorse Abdul Hadi as Pakatan’s next premier.

Yesterday, party organ Harakahdaily quoted Mustafa’s statement reminding coalition leaders and supporters that the question of who would be the prime minister under a Pakatan government should not be turned into a polemic.

He said the matter was only raised during the debate and was not part of any declaration at the party’s muktamar over the weekend.

“So there is no necessity for the media to play this up because it is not part of the muktamar’s (approved) motions.”

He was responding to a spate of reports in BN-controlled media over the proposal by certain PAS delegates during the muktamar that Abdul Hadi be appointed as prime minister if PAS wins the most number of seats among the Pakatan parties.

Mainstream newspapers, especially Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia , have been playing up the issue by interviewing PAS second-tier leaders who support the proposal and DAP leaders who want PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim as their prime minister.

The Malay daily also quoted BN leaders who said the dispute between PAS and DAP exposed Pakatan’s greed for power.

In the interview with Harakahdaily , Mustafa opined that the calls by the Ulama and Muslimat wings to have Abdul Hadi as premier were an expression of respect and admiration by the party grassroots towards the president.

He also reminded that with the exception of Kelantan, all other states including Kedah, Penang and Selangor required support from all three component parties in order to form a government.

In another report, Harakahdaily slammed MCA-owned English daily The Star and online news portal The Malaysian Insider for twisting Abdul Hadi’s response on the premiership proposal.

It noted that The Star had front-paged Abdul Hadi’s statement on Monday in its printed version with the title “Hadi ready to be PM” while its online version carried the title “It is syok (thrilling) to be PM”, an attempt to drive a wedge between Abdul Hadi and other Pakatan leaders.

The Malaysian Insider chose a similar angle with the title ' Hadi ‘alu-alukan’ cadangan perwakilan dilantik jadi PM ' (Hadi ‘welcomes’ delegates' proposal to be appointed prime minister), said Harakahdaily .

“The two reports portrayed as if the PAS president wants to become the prime minister. The two reports have resulted in defamation against the president that he was said to ‘agree to and was prepared’ to become the prime minister,” said the party organ.

It argued that Abdul Hadi, during the press conference held after giving his policy speech in the muktamar, had clearly rejected the proposal and said he prefers to be a fisherman after the victory of Islam.

The party organ also published the full transcript and video recording of Abdul Hadi’s winding-up speech, during which he said he felt “ syok (thrilled)” for a moment over the proposal.