Hadi shifts into damage control mode
A visibly-distressed Datuk Hadi Abdul Awang today remained tight-lipped over proposed unity government talks in a move to avoid further backlash after a barrage of heavy fire from fellow Pakatan Rakyat leaders.
At a press conference held after the party met to discuss appointments of its office bearers, the PAS president refused to clarify if he would move ahead with unity talks with arch-rival Umno.
"We have not made any decision on the issue. I don't want to waste time explaining about a matter that has not even been discussed," he told reporters at the party's headquarters here.
"The issue was not raised even once in today's meeting," he said in an apparent bid to dispel speculation of an internal split after it was reported that Hadi and his protege PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa were to be confronted by angry party leaders.
Last Saturday, Hadi was the one who caused distress to PKR and DAP leaders after he claimed that his unity government idea had been well accepted by the party leadership.
PR leaders like the DAP's Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang and PKR's Syed Husin Ali denied that the unity talks had ever been raised by PAS and stressed that any unity talks with Umno will not be accepted.
However, Hadi today made a drastic U-turn and said that the unity talks were never discussed among his PR peers, saying he would only explain his idea to them when asked to.
He also reiterated his stand, despite protests, to engage Umno on various issues concerning the country like the judiciary and reforming the Election Commission. This, he said, was a move in tandem with the Islamic ideals of openness.
"When I am asked to explain, I will do it and even so, you will not get the details of the idea from me," he said in jest, blaming the fallout between PAS and its PR partners on the media.
In fact, Hadi rubbished claims that PKR and DAP are angered by his unity government talks, believing it as nothing but "media reports" aimed at widening the cracks between his party and the others.
But Hadi needs only to look at his own party to see how contentious an issue the unity talks are as reflected in the alleged secret meeting held to devise a way to stop Hadi's unity talks — a meeting called by the party's top spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.
Nik Aziz has been one of the strongest critics of Hadi's idea but the latter seems not to care about this. "I don't know anything about the meeting," he said.
