'Traitor' and 'infidel' – Dr M opens fire on Hadi

Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad has fired a vitriolic salvo against PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Accusing Hadi of working with Umno to split opposition votes in the coming general election, the former premier labelled him a “traitor" and "kafir" (infidel).

"Hadi knows well (PAS) is going to lose most of its seats but he is still helping Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to win by splitting the opposition's votes.

"That's his intention and that's not Islamic. In Malay, we call that being a 'pengkhianat' (traitor)," he told reporters in Putrajaya this morning.

Mahathir was asked to comment on PAS' announcement that it intends to contest 130 parliament seats in the general election.

The Islamist party currently holds 13 seats. The Islamist party had won 21 parliament seats in the 2013 general election.

However, since the formation of the splinter party Amanah, PAS' seats had dwindled. Last week, Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar quit PAS, further reducing the tally.

Meanwhile, Mahathir claimed that Hadi is now working with Umno despite the latter having described it as a “party of infidels” in the past.

"Najib is an infidel according to PAS and Hadi once said if you work with an infidel, then you become an infidel yourself.

"So, now that he is working with Umno and at one time had also worked with DAP, he is now an infidel himself," he added.

Critics have accused Hadi and PAS of working with Najib (photo) to ensure Umno is victorious in the coming general election.

Hadi has also filed a legal suit in London against Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown over an article which suggested that PAS received RM90 million from Najib.

PAS leaders have maintained that the party is not working with Umno and that their cooperation is based on issues pertaining to race and religion.

Yesterday, Dewan Ulama chief Mahfodz Mohamed said Umno was no longer the same and therefore PAS had adopted a different approach.

He claimed that Umno was “terrible” and “anti-Islam” when Mahathir was at its helm.

Commenting on Hadi's mandate which Mahathir claimed led to the Memali incident in 1985, the former premier said Hadi had abused the religion.

"The person who abused Islam was Hadi. In his mandate, Hadi stated it was legitimate to fight the infidel government, and if you died during the fighting, you would go to heaven.

"That was totally wrong (and goes) against the teachings of Islam and yet people who knew the religion just kept quiet," he said.- Mkini