Hadi gears up for clash with Anwarists

FMT

The one-hour dialogue session held by PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang in Terengganu yesterday was hard-hitting and most revealing. In a no holds barred event, Hadi admitted what most people had suspected all along but could not confirm.

Now Hadi has confirmed it. And what he confirmed is certainly most damaging to Pakatan Rakyat, PKR, Anwar Ibrahim, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Rafizi Ramli.

Hadi confirmed that PAS had approached Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to propose him as Pakatan Rakyat’s candidate for Prime Minister, as alleged by Rafizi. But they did so, said Hadi, at the behest of DAP and PKR after they, too, had approached Tengku Razaleigh and had failed.

In fact, the person who had approached Tengku Razaleigh was Husam Musa and he did so with the blessing of PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat, even though Hadi never mentioned this in his dialogue yesterday.

Hadi also explained why PAS is not keen to support Wan Azizah as the new Selangor Menteri Besar. And it is not because she is a woman but because she is not capable or qualified.

As to why PAS submitted three names as the proposed candidates to replace Khalid Ibrahim as the new Selangor Menteri Besar, Hadi said that this was because the Sultan had asked for more than two names.

So this means at least three names or more and PAS does not want to propose just one name and appear stupid for not understanding a simple instruction from the palace.

Hadi also said that PAS had been through many internal crises in the past and that had not killed the party. Hence if there are those who are not happy and wish to leave to form a new party they are welcome to do so.

Hadi, of course, was referring to PasMa, a new party being formed by the Anwarists in PAS who are at loggerheads with the ulama faction in the party over many issues, the Selangor MB issue being just one of them.

It looks like the battle-lines are drawn and Hadi is gearing up for a showdown with the pro-Anwar Young Turks in the party.

This is not the first time this is happening in PAS. In 1977 PAS went through a crisis that saw the birth of Berjasa and, again, in 1983 that saw the birth of Hamim. Both these PAS breakaway or splinter parties, however, never made it and just rode off into the sunset.

Even Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s Umno-breakaway party, Semangat 46, did not really make it in spite of the large funding available to it. No doubt together with PAS it managed to capture Kelantan. However, when Semangat 46 was dissolved PAS still managed to retain Kelantan.

Hence PAS did not really need Semangat 46 as much as Semangat 46 needed PAS.

Hadi’s one-hour dialogue yesterday has demolished whatever little hope there was for PAS and Anwar to kiss and make up. In not so many words, Hadi has told Anwar to go to hell and at the same time inform the party why it is no longer tenable for PAS to continue its marriage, or rather affair, with Pakatan Rakyat.

From here on we can only expect PAS and Pakatan Rakyat to part ways and for PASMA to take over where PAS left off.