Whispers of Hadi’s exit

The PAS president’s failing health and image issues among the Chinese raises deep concerns about his ability to lead the party into the next big battle.

TAN Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has been portrayed as the political embodiment of some of the deepest fears of the Chinese, that is, Islamisation and its threat to their way of life.

The PAS president and his party have come to represent the dreaded green wave. Even the fact that one of his sons has a Chinese wife has failed to soften the hearts of Chinese voters.

The couple - Yusuf Abdul Hadi and Aishah Lim Abdullah and their children - have often been included in the annual Chinese New Year greetings of the PAS president who takes the trouble to dress in red for the occasion.

The Chinese suspicion about PAS is like a mountain that the party will struggle to scale in the coming years.

Aside from the Chinese mountain, there is also the proverbial elephant in the room that those in PAS speak about in whispers but which no one dares say out loud - the failing health of their president.

Pictures of a feeble-looking Hadi in a wheelchair as he is ferried from his house to the nearby Rusila mosque have been widely shared on social media.

The PAS president’s state of health is no longer a secret. He is said to have a variety of ailments and has been on dialysis treatment for several years.

He has also been in and out of hospital and, like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, it becomes news each time they are hospitalised.

Yet, the pair has shown an incredible fighting spirit to live or as some say, their visa to the next world has not been approved.

Hadi, 77, is a few months younger than Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim but there is such a contrast between the pair. The Prime Minister is still at his prime, able to keep a hectic schedule and running to keep fit even when abroad.

The concern in the party is that Hadi’s health is not growing better while the general election is getting closer. There is a certain urgency this time around and it has everything to do with the party’s ambitions in the next general election.

This is an election year for PAS and a new line-up will take shape at the party muktamar later this year.

Hadi has held on to the presidency without a contest since 2002 and there is now renewed whispers that the timing is right to hand over the reins to someone healthy, younger and more energetic.

The green wave in 2022 took everyone by surprise. Perikatan Nasional leaders know another big wave would not be possible unless they come up with something different.

The non-Malays will not gravitate to Perikatan as long as they see Hadi up there and his failing health means he will not be able to be at the forefront.

It would not a case of putting Hadi on a horse to ride into the sunset.

Hadi is seen as the ideal candidate to assume the mursyidul am post from Datuk Hashim Jasin, whose term expires this year. The mursyidul am is the spiritual leader to the party and he chairs the syurah council which has the final say on key party matters.

The decision will be entirely Hadi’s to make and it is likely his inner circle will dissuade him and argue that he is indispensable. Their careers are hinged on their proximity to Hadi.

Moreover, some in the party say that top religious figures only go when the Almighty says so.

“There won’t be any pushing or pulling. It will be a smooth and stable process because the line of succession is there,” said PAS vice-president Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah.

It is a foregone conclusion that deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man is the successor.

Non-Malay opinion out there thinks that vice-president and Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who has an approval rating of 67% in the state, should be the next president.

It shows that non-Malays will never truly understand PAS politics just as Malays cannot grasp DAP politics. To imagine that Dr Ahmad Samsuri, a non-ulama, should lead PAS is like suggesting that a Malay become the secretary-general of DAP.

Yet, we have DAP’s Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng challenging Perikatan to name Hadi as their prime minister candidate when DAP, the biggest party in the unity government, is unable to claim the deputy prime minister post. MPs should engage their brain before opening their mouths.

Hadi, despite health issues, still holds the PAS base in the palm of his hands. A Terengganu businessman said the crowd at PAS ceramah grows silent and even the pasar malam traders stop all activity when Hadi speaks.

“The only other leader like that was Nik Aziz,” said the businessman, referring to the late Kelantan leader Datuk Seri Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

Although the party regards Tuan Ibrahim the next president, he does not have the charisma or the Islamic scholarship of Hadi.

There are pros and cons to a potential change. The party image will be softer without Hadi but the new man may not have the same command of the Malay base.

Perikatan leaders admit that Hadi is “not 100% there” and is often forgetful about what has been discussed or decided at meetings. Apparently the party is managed by a team of top leaders and Hadi is largely a respected figurehead.

But, said a Perikatan insider, Hadi’s wisdom and experience still shines through at times and he is able to interject with opinions that impress the Perikatan leaders.

He also has good and bad days and he recently climbed a flight of stairs to the first floor office of Subang PAS chairman Roslan Shahir who owns a firearms business.

So will Hadi go or stay?

“The next general election will be about who can win the heart and soul of the Malays because of their numbers.

“The reformasi wave was multi-racial, but the green wave is Malay and Islamic and increasingly a young wave. The next general election will be an open war like never before for this group,” said political commentator Khaw Veon Szu.

And that is why a lot is resting on the top leadership of PAS.