Apologise or quit, Pas leader told

(NST) – DAP has called on a Pas leader to apologise over a controversial message which has left the Islamic party’s partners in Pakatan incensed.

DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said Pas Research Centre operations director Dr Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki should issue an apology or leave the opposition coalition.

“Many Malaysians are angered by Zuhdi’s comments.

“His posting exemplifies his racist and extremist thinking,” Pua said in a statement.

Selangor DAP committee member Charles Santiago, who is Klang member of parliament, said Pas leaders should disassociate themselves from Zuhdi’s WhatsApp message.

Santiago urged Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to make his stand on the “WhatsApp issue” by saying that the Selangor Pas leadership is loyal and committed to the opposition coalition.

“As far as Selangor DAP is concerned, we are always loyal and committed to Pakatan,” he was reported as saying by Bernama.

A screenshot of the message, which has gone viral on social media since Monday, shows Zuhdi discussing the possibility of the party leaving Pakatan and forming a new alliance to retain power in Selangor.

Another part of Zuhdi’s message read: “After an alliance is formed, if DAP, the church and non-Muslims complain about the (Bible) raids and the Allah issue, we can just ‘flick’ them away. By the end of the year, we can return political power to Malay Muslims. All dissent by the non-Muslims and churches will be quashed.”

The conversation allegedly took place in the instant messaging application WhatsApp, and it involved Pas central committee members.

In response, Zuhdi confirmed the authenticity of the screenshot but denied being the one who came up with the idea to get Pas out of Pakatan.

“The proposal to leave the coalition was supported by no less than 10 members in the WhatsApp group, most of whom are close to (PKR de facto leader) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“But, I am not part of the group that has proposed to leave Pakatan.

“This is slander aimed at implicating me as the one who came up with the idea,” he said.

However, Pua yesterday said Zuhdi’s explanation, which was made in a Facebook posting on Tuesday, did not address the alleged racial and religious undertones in the latter’s message on WhatsApp.

“His explanation on Facebook over the controversy did not at all touch on the contents of his racist and extremist analysis.”

“That is why his name still cannot be cleared from the bad impressions from many.

“We ask that Zuhdi realise his narrow thinking and apologise over his remark,” Pua said, adding that DAP did not want Zuhdi to continue serving in Pakatan should he refuse to apologise.

He also urged Pas to take action against its leaders who possessed “narrow-minded thinking” to prevent the party’s good name from being tarnished.

On Tuesday, DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke criticised Zuhdi’s “analysis”, calling it irresponsible and a betrayal of the people’s trust.

Zuhdi’s leaked message came hot on the heels of mounting speculation that the loose opposition coalition could be heading for a break-up after its leaders failed to agree on who should run Selangor.

PKR remains adamant on replacing Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim with party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Several Pas leaders, including party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, had opposed the proposal.

It was reported that Pas’ leadership will meet on Aug 10 to discuss PKR’s proposal for Dr Wan Azizah to replace Khalid.