We chose more important matters over concerts, says PAS man

 

Hashim Jasin said being part of the federal government for the first time in over 40 years, the party could not implement policies and resolve problems all at once.

PETALING JAYA: PAS did not “aggressively” oppose concerts while it was in government as it wanted to resolve more important matters, says its spiritual adviser.

Hashim Jasin said being part of the federal government for the first time in over 40 years, the party could not implement policies and resolve problems all at once.

He added that the Islamic party went through a similar situation when it took over the Kelantan state government in 1990.

According to Hashim, the priority was to carry out its initiatives in stages and not during the administration’s first term.

He said they needed to prioritise more pressing issues when they were in power.

“We were in power for a short while,” Hashim told FMT, referring to the time PAS were in Putrajaya under the Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob administrations, between March 2020 and November 2022.

“So, it is not a matter of not wanting to raise such issues, but there were other matters that needed our immediate attention.”

However, he did not elaborate on the pressing issues that PAS had attended to while in Putrajaya.

Hashim was responding to former minister Khairy Jamaluddin who on Wednesday said PAS never aggressively pushed for concerts to be cancelled when it was in the government.

Khairy, who was in the Cabinet during PAS’s short time in Putrajaya, said despite the Islamic party having regularly objected to concerts in the past, it only touched on the matter once when the government decided to revitalise and reopen the economy following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Even then, he said, there was a “very timid intervention” by the then religious affairs minister Idris Ahmad, who had only asked if it was possible for the number of concerts to be reduced.

On a related matter, Hashim said that his party’s objection to Ed Sheeran’s concert in Bukit Jalil on Feb 24 was only because Ramadan was around the corner. Muslims here are expected to begin fasting on March 11 or 12.

He also backed the decision by the PAS Ulama Council who demanded the concert be called off as they claimed Sheeran supported the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

“We need to stay true to our principles.”

Meanwhile, PAS Information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari said PAS had consistently opposed concerts, albeit outside the Cabinet.

“We would oppose it in the Dewan Rakyat,” he said.

On Aug 25, 2022, Fadhli warned the government, which included PAS, that he would lead protests if it did not call off concerts by international artistes.

His statement, in a Facebook post, came In the wake of the Billie Eilish concert which was held one week earlier. - FMT