COMMENT Abdul Hadi Awang should be looking in the mirror before blaming others for the collapse of the Pakatan Rakyat Perak state government.

While it is true that the Pakatan Perak government fell because of a few traitors from the DAP and PKR, PAS cannot pretend that it is not to be faulted for the near collapse of the Selangor state government.

There is a lot more to it that Hadi is not admitting. As PAS president, Hadi should explain why the Kedah government fell into the hands of Barisan Nasional (BN) in the last general election. In other words, people were fed up with the PAS-led state government.

Hadi should also not forget about the Terengganu state government which PAS won during the height of Barisan Alternative, but subsequently Hadi, as the menteri besar leading the state government, lost to BN in the following election.

His performance in Marang, Terengganu during the 2004 general election when he lost to Umno’s Abdul Rahman Bakar shows what kind of track record he has. He only managed to win back Marang in 2008 because of the cooperation with Pakatan Rakyat under the late Nik Aziz Nik Mat, something which he has blown apart with his meddling into the Selangor state crisis.

It suffices to say that PAS won Terengganu state in 1999, and later Kedah in 2008, because of the hype created by former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. PAS on its own, especially without the people who now form Amanah, would not have won any of the state seats.

PAS could not have won both states without the help of Barisan Alternative and Pakatan Rakyat. This was in fact during the era of the late Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the former spiritual leader of PAS. Credit should go to ‘Tok Guru’ Nik Aziz, because he was well-respected even by the Chinese community in Kelantan.

I am not so sure about Hadi, whether the non-Malay community in his home state even respects him. After one term as menteri besar, Hadi lost Terengganu to BN, and was never able to win it back. Kedah also fell into the hands of BN in the last general election, because it was administered by a fellow ulama.

Will Amanah survive?

Hadi again asked another question , “Let’s see if Amanah survive.”

I cannot help but laugh. I wonder if PAS would be relevant now, or will it return to Kelantan as what is clear to most of us is that Hadi and his ulama faction are the ones to blame for PAS’ own weaknesses. In fact, while most Malaysians take a liking to Mohamad Sabu (fondly known as Mat Sabu), Hadi’s ceramah hardly attracts the crowd, not to mention that his voice is hardly even heard in Parliament.

So, Hadi should not be too arrogant when talking about the Perak state government. We should be asking the question whether PAS will even survive beyond the 14th general election, if Hadi continues to lead PAS.

For all we know, under Hadi’s leadership, PAS may even lose Kelantan, their stronghold. His efforts to push for hudud, as I mentioned in my earlier articles, was just a lip gloss. It has been several parliamentary sessions since Hadi’s private member’s bill was submitted to Parliament, and despite the crocodile tears shed by Umno leaders in the Kelantan state legislative assembly, there is hardly any progress at Parliament.

There is a big difference between a good and well-respected leader and one who hardly commands any respect from the people. In Malaysia, we have three types of leaders - those who are truly statesmen; those whom the people hardly respect and those who want to usurp respect from the people.

People are peeved with leaders who are arrogant, yet unable to deal with important national issues such as the goods and services tax (GST) and the 1MDB scandal involving Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

I wonder if Hadi even knows how to differentiate between right and wrong. The whole world is raising questions about Najib’s integrity as a leader of Malaysia, but not Hadi. In fact, it is not only that he hardly raises this subject in Parliament, his voice is not even heard at all.

My question to him therefore is, does he even know what 1MDB is all about? At least, Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem claims he does not know anything about 1MDB. Adenan deserves more respect for saying that he is living under a coconut shell, than for Hadi who even declared his support for a scandal-plagued prime minister, who is caught in the thick of the 1MDB scandal.

Don’t ask me why I am sad for all my PAS friends but I can imagine if Hadi continues to helm PAS, the party can only dash itself against the rocks.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.