IS THE STAR SPINNING?

What if I were to say that a very senior DAP leader who wishes to remain anonymous said that if Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government with a two-thirds majority they are going to make sure that the Constitution is amended.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

“Hadi will be challenged, predicts PAS leader,” said The Star today. The news item then goes on and on quoting this ‘senior leader’ without mentioning his or her name — a senior leader, according to The Star, “who requested anonymity”.

The Star did, however, say that this is a mere prediction. That means it may or may not happen. The Staralso mentioned that more than one person could challenge the PAS President, Abdul Hadi Awang, and it went on to give the list of these possible challengers.

A senior leader who is aligned to the ‘moderate’ faction in PAS and who requested anonymity is not good enough. We need names. Furthermore, what does The Star mean by moderate?

If I were to say that Muslims must be allowed to leave Islam to become Christians and gay unions should be allowed and gay marriages should be legalised would that make me a moderate? And if I were to argue otherwise would that make me an extremist?

What if I were to say that Muslims must only follow the Qur’an and all Hadith must be rejected? Would that make me a moderate or a deviant Muslim?

What about if I were to say that the Qur’an was written only after the Prophet had died and during the Prophet’s time there was no Qur’an as we know of today — hence we need to question the Qur’an and its teachings — would that make me a moderate or an infidel (kafir)?

Yes, the word moderate, and hence the opposite of what a moderate is, needs to be explained. Can The Star, therefore, explain what it means? I, for one, wish to know what a moderate Muslim means and what makes one the opposite of moderate — and I assume that would be an extremist Muslim.

More importantly, who is this so-called moderate senior PAS leader who wishes to remain anonymous? I, too, can write a news report like that if I just quote some senior leader without mentioning who that leader is.

What if I were to say that a very senior DAP leader who wishes to remain anonymous said that if Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government with a two-thirds majority they are going to make sure that the Constitution is amended.

Islam will no longer be the religion of the Federation and Bahasa Malaysia the official language. English will be made the first language and Mandarin the second language and Muslims will be allowed to leave Islam if they want to.

This was what the very senior DAP leader who wishes to remain anonymous said. And if the Malays rise up in protest and threaten the lives of the Chinese, Singapore will send in its army to help the Chinese.

Yes, when I can quote leaders who wish to remain anonymous then I can say anything. I can probably even get away with “the wife of a PKR leader now serving a jail sentence who wishes to remain anonymous said that….yada, yada, yada.”

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Hadi will be challenged, predicts PAS leader

(The Star, 3 March 2015) – A senior PAS leader has predicted that president’s post will be contested in the upcoming party elections.

He expects more than one candidate to challenge PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang if he decides to defend his post.

Judging from the mood on the ground, there could be several nominations for the top post, said the leader who requested anonymity.

“PAS is a very democratic and that there will be a keen contest this time around as there are a lot of issues in the party,” the leader said.

He commenting on PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali’s prediction that the number one post would be uncontested because there was no capable leader in the party to take on Hadi, who has the backing of the pro-ulama faction.

“Let the presidency be contested. Constitutionally, all positions of executive are open to nomination and contest. This is what you call a democracy,” he said.

Hadi has never been challenged since he took over as acting president following the death of Datuk Fadzil Noor in 2002.

The leader, who is aligned to the “moderate” faction in PAS, said a contest was as an important form of check and balance to bring forward any political party.

“It would be in the best interests of the party for every post to be contested. Nobody should ever imagine himself to be indispensable and could do no wrong,” he said.

He said that leadership was multi-dimensional and that the most knowledgeable person might not be the best choice to run the party.

“There are other competencies such as strategising and management coupled with the demands of coalition politics,” he said.

The leader was agreeable to suggestions by some moderates that Hadi should be “promoted” to the spiritual adviser role previously held by the late Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

“Give him (Hadi) some face and dignity. Let him go up rather than being demoted,” he said.

The leader said that PAS was not short of leaders such as Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, Ahmad Awang, Datuk Husam Musa, Mujahid Yusof Rawa and Salahuddin Ayub.

“By allowing a contest, delegates will have the chance to listen to new ideas and ways of solving problems,” he said.

A candidate needs at least two nominations from a division to qualify for a contest.