PAS was offered foreign help to topple govt in 2014, says Hadi

 The PAS president says, however, its party leaders were not swayed by the offer and remained firm in rejecting it.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said then assistant secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan and Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who was Hadi’s political secretary at the time, attended a meeting at the US embassy in 2014.

KOTA BHARU:

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has claimed that the party was once offered assistance by a foreign power to topple the government.

Hadi said the incident took place during the visit of former US president Barack Obama to Malaysia in 2014, when several PAS leaders were invited to a meeting at the US embassy.

He said then PAS assistant secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan and Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who was Hadi’s political secretary at the time, went to the embassy for the meeting.

“I want to share this. When Obama came to Malaysia, we were still in the (Pakatan Rakyat) coalition with the other parties at the time, and we were invited to meet at the US embassy.

“They wanted to discuss it and were prepared to help topple and take over the government,” he said during his winding-up speech at the 72nd PAS muktamar at the Pusat Tarbiah Islamiah Kelantan here today.

Hadi said the two PAS leaders were not swayed by the offer and remained firm in rejecting it.

He said that after the meeting, the US ambassador requested a separate meeting with him, which he attended with Mustafa Ali, who was then PAS secretary-general.

“Guess what the US ambassador asked me. He asked who PAS was proposing as prime minister.

“I said, ‘Who does America agree with?’ He was stunned. That was my answer. I told (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) about it, and Mahathir said it was good,” he said.

Barisan Nasional (BN) was eventually ousted from Putrajaya at the 2018 general election, with the then-opposition Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) campaign heavily shaped by the 1MDB scandal and allegations of corruption surrounding then-prime minister Najib Razak.

PH, led by Mahathir, won the election, and he was subsequently sworn in as prime minister.

Separately, Takiyuddin confirmed attending the meeting at the US embassy, saying they rejected foreign interference in the country’s politics.

“The embassy representative asked whether PAS was planning to topple the BN government at the time. We did not make any decision because we did not want interference from foreign countries.

“There can be no foreign interference. If other parties want foreign interference to topple the government, that is up to them. We do not, we do not,” he said. - FMT