KOTA KINABALU: PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang’s (pic) recent statement over the causes of corruption could trigger tension and friction among the communities in the country, says United Kinabalu Progressive Organisation (Upko) Youth chief Felix Joseph Saang.
Saang opined that a veteran should have not issue such statements as it showed Abdul Hadi’s immaturity as a leader.
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"As a government leader, Abdul Hadi should not have made such baseless accusations," he said, in a statement here on Tuesday (Aug 30).
"His statement is slanderous and offensive towards the non-Muslim and non-bumiputra communities because corruption has nothing to do with race or religion," he added.
According to the National Anti-Corruption Plan Report (NACP) 2019-2023, Saang said, it was revealed that the causes of corruption were lack of support, lack of awareness, bureaucracy, lack of early detection, lack of prevention, and weak enforcement.
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He stressed that the report did not touch on graft being caused by non-Muslim or non-bumiputra individuals.
He was commenting on Abdul Hadi’s recent statement where the latter claimed that non-bumiputras and non-Muslims were responsible for most of the country’s corruption and that they have destroyed the country’s politics and economy.
Abdul Hadi said this had allowed non-Malays to dictate terms to the Malays, which in turn made the Malays become corrupted and entangled in financial scandals.
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Meanwhile, Saang had also commended Sarawak Deputy Utility and Telecommunication Minister Datuk Liwan Lagang’s call to ban the PAS president from entering Sarawak.
"This kind of extremist politics along with any parties associated with it must be rejected. There is no room for this kind of politics in Sabah.
"What is the stand of our local party leaders in the state government, especially Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) on this issue?" he asked.
