'Those mourning Hasan's sacking can't cry a river'

In his trademark light-hearted style of writing, veteran Harakah columnist Subky Latif said Hasan Ali, sacked by PAS last week, should consider his sacking a favour upon him as he now could speak his mind freely.

"Releasing him from PAS is freeing him so that he could speak freely as guaranteed by the country's Constitution," said Subky writing in his latest column in the Bahasa Malaysia edition of Harakahdaily.

According to Subky, Hasan "is now as free as a bird and may fly away, even to space."

He said while it was rare for the Islamic party to sack its members, Hasan's case was not unique.

On a small number of Hasan's sympathisers who draw attention to the former Selangor PAS commissioner's contributions to the party, Subky pointed out that many other past leaders who had immensely contributed to the party had also got the sack for not adhering to party discipline.

"In the past, PAS sacked its president, Dato Asri together with supreme council members. Who says Dato Asri had not contributed to the party? But in the interest of the party, one's contribution no matter how much or big does not make one immune from getting sacked," he wrote, referring to the late Mohd Asri Muda whose membership was suspended by the party's disciplinary committee in 1983.

'We need someone like Ibrahim Ali'

Saying Hasan could still appeal if he wanted to, Subky said it would be ideal to get members who could be pathologically loyal to the party.

"If possible, we want in PAS someone like Dato Ibrahim Ali," he jibed, referring to the staunchly pro-UMNO president of Perkasa .

"Having been humiliated and sacked from his life-long membership, he has not turned his back from UMNO and still waits to be accepted back. As UMNO has no plans to take him back, he makes all the efforts for the sake of the party which spurned him," Subky wrote.

Subky has this to say to those who think that Hasan's sacking would bode ill for PAS's strength:

"Of course there will be those who are saddened and shed tears over the action against him, but not to the extent that their tears could spring up a new river in Selangor."

-Harakahdaily