Hadi: Former Umno members joining PAS in droves

 

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang claimed that there is a surge of former Umno members flocking to his party, with an anticipation of even more figures joining in the near future.

However, he told reporters that he is not sure how many new members there are exactly.

“I can’t (tell the number) but we already have them (former Umno members) joining us.

“We have people like Ismail Muttalib. We’ve got Shahidan Kassim. 

“There are even those who are bound by the Anti-Hopping law but they are practically PAS members already,” Hadi (above) said during a press conference at World Trade Centre (WTC) Kuala Lumpur today.

Maran MP Ismail has been an Umno member since 2004. 

He joined PAS in 2022 and during the 15th general election, he was re-elected to the Maran parliamentary seat under the PN ticket.

In a parallel move, Arau MP Shahidan made a significant transition by joining PAS in 2022, marking the end of his longstanding association with Umno that had spanned since 1986.

Shahidan was dropped as a candidate for for his long-held seat of Arau during GE15, prompting him to quit the party and stand as a PN candidate.

When asked if former Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa’s application to join PAS was approved, Hadi merely said that the answer will soon be revealed.

“We will announce it, not just Annuar Musa (joining PAS),” the Marang MP said.

‘Wrong move’ to work with DAP

Meanwhile, Hadi warned that Umno has made a wrong move by collaborating with DAP for the upcoming state elections.

“Even people in Umno do not agree with the move and frankly, we think that the coalition between Umno and Pakatan Harapan is more to save themselves, the mahkamah (court) clusters. 

“(They want) to get ministerial positions to save themselves. (It is) not for the sake of Umno’s mission which is in its constitution - upholding Islam and upholding race and nation. 

“They (Umno) have strayed from their constitution,” he said.

Hadi further explained his belief that Umno would be unable to collaborate with DAP, drawing on PAS’ past experience with the latter party.

“We were on common ground… but the problem was that DAP was too outrageous.

“They asked us to not implement Islamic laws (hudud)… we only did it for the Muslims. The non-Muslims could do whatever they wanted.

“It is stated in the constitution that Islamic laws cannot be enacted upon non-Muslims but they (DAP) intervened,” Hadi stressed.

Bad blood

DAP and PAS first linked arms in 1998 following the ousting of then-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

They formed Barisan Alternatif (BA), which disbanded in 2004 after two failed attempts - the 1999 and 2004 general elections - to topple BN.

In the next election four years later, PAS joined BA’s successor - Pakatan Rakyat - alongside DAP as well as PKR.

This alliance dealt a significant blow to the ruling BN, resulting in their worst-ever electoral outcome in 2008.

PAS won 23 seats, contributing to Pakatan Rakyat's overall success of winning 82 seats.

The party then took charge in Kedah and Kelantan, led by the late Azizan Abdul Razak and the late Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat respectively.

However, a couple of years down the road, DAP and PAS butt heads after the former party criticised Hadi for pushing a bill on hudud.

The rift caused DAP to announce in 2015 that it would no longer work with PAS and that the coalition (Pakatan Rakyat) was “dead”.

DAP and PAS went on to form Pakatan Harapan and Gagasan Sejahtera, respectively, following their split. - Mkini