As PAS begins its annual assembly today, central committee member Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa warned that president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang's failure to defend the Islamist party’s tahaluf siyasi or spirit of cooperation with its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) allies, DAP and PKR, by refusing to acknowledge Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the Selangor menteri besar candidate may backfire.
Mujahid said unlike previous party chiefs, such as Yusof Rawa and Datuk Fadzil Mohd Noor, Hadi appeared no longer able to cooperate with PR, especially in overcoming the Selangor MB impasse.
"What are the reasons? Is it because the pressures to exit Pakatan are too strong? Or is it the PAS president is too weak?" Mujahid asked in his column in The Malaysian Insider headlined “The future of PAS in members’ hands”.
The Parit Buntar MP said the answer was important to ascertain PAS's future standards as well as finding out the leadership criteria to face the new political landscape.
He said the test of leadership would end when they had the answer whether they were still relevant to navigate through the new landscape.
"PAS members will continue to be scrutinised until they make a mature decision.”
The political opportunities given to PAS by non-Muslims, namely the Chinese, should be taken as encouragement to the leadership to strengthen PR, instead of disappointing the people by going back and forth with its “PAS for all” commitment.
He said PAS members should realise and accept that the party would have gone nowhere if non-Muslims did not vote for the Islamic party's candidates, especially in Selangor.
“PAS must not disappoint the public who placed their trust in it.
"Voters chose PAS because they have confidence in the party and the manifesto we promised. This is truer on the west coast where voters were attracted to what PR had to offer, and they voted in the spirit of PR.
"It has only been a year and the enthusiasm in PR to lock horns in Selangor has reduced the people's confidence, and PAS is one of the parties.”
He said PAS should not go take Umno’s bait and play up Malay-Islam sentiments, which were in reality “narrowly defined racism” that PAS had been fighting against for decades.
"The Malay-Umno sentiment game can weaken the firm steps taken by PAS for the sake of new politics, which is strong now.
"That is why PAS and its members must move further away from being dragged into the Selangor crisis, which is a political trap by Umno," he said.
PAS together with its PR colleagues, he said, only needed to be patient and stand firm by minimising steps that could ruin their goals.
The parties should also refrain from getting drawn into petty matters and attacking each other, he said, adding that PAS should champion the strategic interests and the people's hopes for a change in leadership.
"Attending the muktamar this time is not only for the rhetorical and high-spirited speeches to defend the ulama leadership or the party president.
"It is also about how delegates can defend and uphold party principles and PAS's role in building the future of this nation," he added. –TMI
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