Najib stuck in a time capsule, says Sabu

PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said the prime minister’s comments on the Islamic party’s objective of a welfare state only showed he was outdated.

Najib Razak, during his visit to Kazakhstan which has been mired by rumour about the marriage of his daughter to the son of a Kazakh leader, had been quoted as saying that the presidential speech at the just concluded PAS Muktamar themed “Building a Benevolent Nation” was an “election stunt”.

Mat Sabu (pic) said the concept of a ‘welfare state’ had been in existence during the Prophet’s time when Madinah was established as an Islamic state.

“As such, PAS has long been fighting for a Welfare State as formulated by the Prophet from the Madinah era, not merely for the 13th general election.

“I feel sorry for Najib because he is obviously ignorant about this, and I suggest it would be better for him to keep quiet,” said Mat Sabu.

Explaning further, Mat Sabu said the concept of a ‘benevolent state’ is mentioned in the Qur’an as Baldatun Tayyibatun wa Rabbun Ghafur, or “a land most goodly and sustenance most forgiving” (34:15).

Meanwhile, in his response to Najib, Universiti Selangor deputy chancellor Prof Zainal Abidin Kidam said such comments could have been made due to a lack of information on the Qur’anic concept of state.

He said Najib was not briefed about the speech by PAS president Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang, and was also illprepared to face questions from the media.

“He should have answered as a statesman with concrete arguments, not reject such an intellectual speech by describing it as an election stunt,” he told Harakahdaily.