PETALING JAYA: PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has dismissed allegations of strained ties between the party’s Mursyidul Am (spiritual leader), Datuk Hashim Jasi,n and PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, insisting any differences are technical in nature and not a fundamental split.
Speaking in an interview with Sinar Harian, Tuan Ibrahim addressed claims that relations between the two top leaders had cooled, including over the Perlis Menteri Besar issue, which Hashim had previously said was raised with PAS’s central leadership but allegedly not acted upon.
Tuan Ibrahim explained that party decisions are ultimately made by the Majlis Syura Ulama (Shura Council), which includes both the president and himself as members.
“In this regard, we cannot make a direct comparison in the context of leadership,” he said. “If we look at it in terms of members of the Shura Council, the president is a member of the Shura Council. I am also a member. Anything that the party council sees as necessary, we bring to the Shura Council.”
He clarified that while the Mursyidul Am chairs the Shura Council, the body’s collective decision carries the final authority.
“The Shura Council is not the Mursyidul Am. The Mursyidul Am is the chairman of the Shura Council. But the decision must be the decision of the Shura Council,” he said.
Describing Datuk Hashim’s statements as his personal view, Tuan Ibrahim stressed that differences in opinion between leaders are natural and manageable within the party’s internal mechanisms.
“The view of the Mursyidul Am is his view. However, it does not necessarily mean his opinion is the same as that of the Shura Council. However, we respect the Shura Council and the Mursyidul Am as our spiritual leader.
“So if there may be different views and so on, we consider it a normal thing that can be overcome because we always meet. The president and the Mursyidul Am have no issues. We always meet, sit down and discuss. If there are any differences of opinion, we have a platform to overcome them. It’s a technical problem, not a fundamental problem,” he said.
On the broader political front, Tuan Ibrahim said PAS remains open to the agenda of unifying the ummah with other Malay-based parties, including UMNO, although there is currently no formal cooperation between the two parties.
He noted that while official party-to-party ties have not been re-established, informal engagements and personal relationships between leaders of PAS, UMNO and other parties continue.
“To unite this ummah, in the context of party-to-party relations, we do not have official relations,” he said. “However, we have also discussed personal relations with friends from UMNO and other parties, even MCA and MIC.”
He said recent meetings involving top leaders reflected ongoing informal contact.
“With Umno, from the context of official party-to-party relations, there has not yet been any official relationship. However, there is no issue with personal relationships among leaders. Recently, the PAS president met with UMNO Ulama Council chairman Datuk Ahmad Dasuki, and Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also met with him. So did I,” he said.
According to Tuan Ibrahim, any move towards a formal political pact would require a clear mandate from each party’s leadership and grassroots.
“In the context of the party, everyone must get a mandate. Then the national alliance can be successful. God willing, many people are hoping for that,” he added.
