Zam: Chaos due to religion-centric parties

Former minister says parties like PAS create hatred towards religions and any PAS-Umno union will scare off non-Malays.

VIDEO INSIDE

PUTRAJAYA: The country has become chaotic due to the existence of religion-centric parties like PAS, claimed former Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin (Zam).

He said in an interview that the country shouldn’t have such parties as it created hatred towards religions.

“How can you say when you are speaking that you are talking on behalf of God and saying God supports you?

“(PAS President) Hadi Awang said years ago that Umno people are kafir (infidel) but, for political survival, I guess now all Umno members are Islamic to him.

“Hadi is the unIslamic one because he has strayed from his original struggle,” Zam said when met at his cafe here.

The former Utusan Malaysia Editor-in-Chief further claimed that Hadi had provoked PAS grassroots members by portraying a bad image of Umno to them.

He said during his visit to Terengganu recently for a book launch, Hadi had openly said he wanted to seize Terengganu back from Umno by “planting hatred” in the minds of PAS members present there.

“It’s because it is religion-centric hatred towards religions (agama).”

Commenting on speculation about PAS joining Umno, Zam said he didn’t believe in such a union, adding it would be difficult for PAS-splinter party Amanah to get support as PAS has strong grassroots support.

“We have to come out of this sort of extreme Malay-Islam sentiments.

“If they say that this PAS-Umno union is for the sake of the Malays, it will only scare off the non-Muslims,” Zam added.

Talk of PAS-Umno cooperation has been circulating since last year following PAS’ fight with DAP over the Islamist party’s insistence in implementing hudud, which involves amputation of limbs for certain offences.