Hasan Ali fighting back
(Sin Chew Daily) – Having learned that he has been dropped as a candidate in the coming general election, PAS’ Hasan Ali launched an instant strike back. Besides refuting allegations that he was championing cross-party cooperation with Umno, he also slammed the party central for forsaking the party’s original objective of establishing an Islamic state.
Hasan Ali is a piece of thorn in the flesh of the Paktan-led Selangor state government, and his mentality is drifting further and further apart from the party’s core leadership.
After the non-ulama sect has won the party elections, even president Hadi Awang openly pledges that the party would not work with Umno and would stay loyal to its Pakatan.allies.
Hasan Ali has lost his support inside the party while the rift with the more open-minded leaders in the party widens.
A strong supporter of the party president, Hasan Ali was appointed the state Exco member in charge of religious affairs. His numerous “misdemeanours” such as banning the sale of liquor in Shah Alam’s convenience stores, barring liquor-selling entertainment spots in Subang Jaya from hiring Muslim workers, cracking down on “indecent” acts on Valentine’s Day, and the raid by JAIS on the DUMC, have all been condoned by the people.
In open defiance of the party’s resolution, he showed up at the mammoth anti-apostasy rally organised by Perkasa and other NGOs in October. But what really blasts off the ammunition is an Utusan article stating that he fell short of the required divisional nomination quota to make it to the list of electoral candidates. The article went on to say that he was the only “saviour” to deliver Selangor out of the doldrums and unite the Malays.
Although PAS initially denied it had sidelined Hasan Ali, he nevertheless targeted his firepower at the party leadership, claiming that he would stay loyal to Allah alone and would not require the approval from the party.
Secretary-general Mustafa Ali accused both Hasan Ali and former deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa of leaning towards Umno, saying that PAS would be least concerned about them leaving the party and joining Umno.
From a more positive perspective, conflicts arising before the general election are not a bad thing, as they give the party a chance to fix its problems ahead of the election, provided that such conflicts would not tear the party apart.
Two things PAS should avoid at all costs:
1. Hasan Ali has accused the party leadership of forsaking the Islamic state objective in favour of a welfare state in order to please its Pakatan allies, and such an accusation would inevitably gain him massive support from the party’s conservatives and religious clerics. If unfortunately the differences in ideology get widened into a destructive rift, the party could be split into two distinct camps not unlike the Camp A and Camp B during the 1987 Umno infighting.
It is imperative that PAS resolve the Islamic state and welfare state controversies, or it will not be able to go into the election battlefield in unison.
Despite the clarification by vice president Salahuddin Ayub that PAS advocates a caring and equitable society, not a welfare state, it is still essential for the party to make its stand clear and obvious.
2. Hasan Ali and Nasharudin alone will not bring down PAS, but if other leaders such as Youth chairman Nasrudin Hassan, Federal Territory Youth chief Kamaruzaman Mohamed and the PAS Ulama Council have voiced their support, the destruction could be definite.
The current rift within PAS would determine whether the party would eventually persist on its moderate approach or would return to conservatism.
