Hadi speaks on Sarawak, RPK and party polls
Issues related to Raja Petra such as the one spun by the media with regards to his statutory declaration, will be futile to be commented upon by PAS. It is a waste of time to respond to such things.
Harakahdaily
PAS president speaks to Harakahdaily on a number of issues ranging from the just concluded Sarawak elections to PAS’s upcoming polls. Below are excerpts from the interview.
On media and party polls
PAS leadership and supporters should not be influenced by their opponents’ tune on the question of party posts, intentionally played to divide the party into two groups called religionists and professionals. In reality, there are not such divisions, because everyone is fighting from within the party to uphold Islam as a way of life in this country. We should go back to the history of PAS’s formation to understand this.
There are professionals who are as qualified to lead the party as the other leaders in the struggle of Islam, hence this ensures PAS’s objective cannot deviate.
This is what leaders, members and supporter of PAS must realise so that unity can be forged. Our opponents would spend so much time playing the same tune in the run-up to the Muktamar in June.
Click here to view the interview on Youtube.
So, we have to handle this wisely. Just because the media play their tune, we should not segregate ourselves.
On being challenged for presidency
For the president’s post, if there is nomination to contest against me, I will be more than welcome, because I am also not going to be a leader forever. I’m getting old and we are in dire need of the next level of leadership.
On other posts
PAS has always welcomed contest for every post in the party because it not only proves the party is open about selecting leaders by members, it also helps strengthen leadership.
If there is nomination to contest against any PAS leader for any position in the party, whatever the background of the candidates is, we should welcome it with a sense of unity because in the process, it will have wisdom for PAS.
On performance in Sarawak
If the 10th Sarawak state election had taken place in the context of a truly democractic environment such as in some countries, PAS would have won because there would have been no restriction on the people to make their choice.
The reality in Sarawak is that PAS had been clearly restricted by BN from disseminating information to the people through many methods, especially through the media propaganda.
This impeded our campaign to explain the party’s struggles to the masses, to the extent Sarawakians had been influenced by BN to vote for them, although BN was clearly rejected by the educated masses and those who were enlightened with information such as the case in urban areas.
Regardless, the increase in public support for PAS in Sarawak proved that Sarawakians cannot be fooled by the BN forever, and this augurs well for PAS there in the future.
This positive development must be capitalised by the PAS machinery at every level so that the party’s struggle is explained to every citizen of Sabah and Sarawak from time to time, in tandem with the same efforts in the Peninsula.
On Raja Petra Kamaruddin
Issues related to Raja Petra such as the one spun by the media with regards to his statutory declaration, will be futile to be commented upon by PAS.
It is a waste of time to respond to such things.
On support among Malays
This is clearly a distorted fact (that PAS failed to attract Malays). A section of the Malays do not realise their obligation to support the struggle for Islam, to the extent they are willing to give support to a secular party to lead them.
It is interesting that non-Muslims had awakened and understood the importance of supporting PAS and its Islamic administration, as well as the other parties.
It is not PAS which is sick, but the Malays, and they need to be assisted and remedied by us so that they will realise their position and their actual role in the Islamic struggle.
Last word on sincerity
Sincerity is very important. Any hardwork devoid of sincerity will be rendered useless. God helps when there is sincerity, so PAS can only be victorious if it is sincere.
