Strangely, Datuk Paduka Hasan Ali’s sacking from PAS today is a win-win situation for him and the party that gave him a national stage.
Ever since the former Selangor PAS commissioner realised that he was not likely to be fielded again in the next election and when he was rebuffed by delegates at the party elections, it was only a matter of time before Hasan would part ways with the Islamist party.
He did so by adopting the position of PAS’s arch-rival, Umno, and by using Utusan Malaysia to attack his own party.
From questioning its welfare-state concept to insisting on unity talks with Umno, Hasan has been courting trouble within PAS while making controversial statements on Christianisation efforts in his job as a Selangor state executive councillor.
Hasan’s run-ins with his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) colleagues included the sale of alcoholic beverages in Shah Alam convenience stores, a church dinner raid, and suspected apostates; he even claimed of Christians using solar-powered talking bibles to proselytise Muslims.
He also turned up for a right-wing religious gathering to protest so-called Christianisation efforts in Selangor.
His pronouncements won favour with hardline conservatives troubled with the prospect of PAS and DAP cosying up to each other despite a breakup in an earlier coalition.
In short, he has been a thorn in the flesh of PR.
Today, PAS decided to put an end to their misery and his recalcitrance. They sacked him, letting him go rather than keeping him while presenting an image of a modern Islamist party akin to the AKP in Turkey or the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
PAS will continue on its path to promote its welfare state idea, without having to deal with naysayers who want to go down a narrow path rather than co-operating with other parties intent on capturing Putrajaya on a Malaysian platform.
As for Hasan Ali, the sacking will just reinforce his ideals and he will find like-minded people who believe that Malay-Muslims are under threat of being converted out of the faith and moral policing is the way of the future, notwithstanding the need to stamp out graft and improve the economy.
PAS wins by being decisive. Hasan Ali wins by being a martyr for a cause in his own mind.
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