PAS leader calls Pakatan Harapan uncivilised

KUALA LUMPUR: PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang lashed out at Pakatan Harapan lawmakers for being “uncivilised” for their placard protest in Dewan Rakyat.

“We are lawmakers and not street protesters. As Members of Parliament, we are supposed to be civilised lawmakers,” he told a press conference at Parliament lobby yesterday.

Several Opposition MPs had held up placards reading ‘Mana RM2.6bil?’ (Where is the RM2.6bil?) after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tabled Budget 2016 last Friday.

“We are no participants of demonstrations. We are civilised MPs,” said Hadi.

Asked on his views of Pakatan Harapan, the newly formed opposition pact comprising DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara, Hadi said: “I have no hope with this Harapan which does not want to go where we want to go.”

He likened the new pact to an express bus moving aimlessly without a destination.

“We will not join anything that is not Islamic-based and we will not ride this bus which will not reach its destination,” he said.

Hadi said PAS was ready to work with the ruling Barisan Nasional Government with a new approach.

Denying that the approach was a move towards forming a “unity government” with Barisan, he said there had been cooperation between the parties in the past, citing the time when it was part of the ruling coalition from 1974 to 1978.

Hadi said PAS was not arrogant over its strength and was prepared to cooperate with all quarters including Barisan, DAP and PKR in involving the peoples’ interest but was also willing to go to the polls alone if the situation warranted it.

“We have always stood alone and we have the branches and grassroots which the other parties rely on,” he said.

He cited the recent Bersih 4.0 rally as an example where a PAS pullout left the event lacking Malay support.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki welcomed Hadi’s “positive gesture”.

Dr Asyraf, who handles Islamic affairs, said it was fundamental in Islam that all Muslims were brothers, and working together for the betterment of the community would be a welcome departure from the politicking which the country has been embroiled in the past few years.

Amanah communications director Khalid Samad said PAS must make its intentions clear on whether it wanted to remain an opposition party or one aligned to Barisan.