Mujahid: PAS attack on Mahathir unIslamic

PETALING JAYA: Amanah vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa has accused PAS of straying far from Islamic conduct, saying this was shown recently by one of its youth leaders when he launched an attack on Pakatan Harapan chairman Mahathir Mohamad.

Speaking to FMT, Mujahid said the remarks by PAS Youth vice-chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari were venomous and indicative of the party’s vindictive attitude.

He was referring to a news report quoting Fadhli as saying that Mahathir would destroy the country if he were to return to power.

Fadhli warned against trusting Mahathir, citing incidents associated with his erstwhile rule, such as the Memali tragedy, the constitutional crisis involving the Malay rulers and the persecution of Anwar Ibrahim.

Mujahid said PAS, as an Islamist party, should recognise signs that Mahathir was atoning for his wrongs. He said he would regard the former prime minister’s decision to join Pakatan as one of the most obvious of these signs.

“Old feuds cannot continue once someone shows signs of remorse,” he said.

“Mahathir has supported the call for Anwar’s freedom. He has also shown regret over the rampant corruption under Barisan Nasional by committing to fight it. More important, he has joined Pakatan and is now committed to ousting BN.

“What has PAS done after all these years of fighting? It has now been mellowed by Umno through Malay-Islam fear mongering tactics.”

He said Fadhli’s remarks showed that PAS had “nothing to offer but vengeance and hatred”. This was unacceptable behaviour for an Islamist party, he added.

Talk of Mahathir’s candidacy as prime minister surfaced again early this month after Pakatan leaders emerged from a weekend retreat .

PPBM supreme council member Tariq Ismail also reacted to Fadhli’s remarks by criticising PAS. He said any sane person could see that the current PAS leadership had no solutions for the country’s problems.

He claimed that Pakatan was fighting for the good of the nation while BN and PAS were fighting for themselves.

“BN and PAS are spreading hatred and communalism,” he added. -FMT