PAS probing alleged plot to oust Hadi

(Malay Mail Online) – PAS is probing the alleged plot to remove party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang from his post, an official from the Islamist party has said.

Local daily Sinar Harian reported Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed, the acting deputy chief for PAS’s influential Dewan Ulama, as saying yesterday that he has received complaints over the purported plot.

“I don’t want to elaborate further because this matter is still under investigation,” he was quoted saying.

“The PAS central committee members did receive complaints about it (attempt to overthrow Hadi). When there is a complaint, of course we will probe. But there is no need to disclose further as this is an internal party matter,” he added.

Mahfodz also advised party members to make official complaints to the party instead of airing them in public, which he said would worsen the situation.

In a separate news report in Sinar Harian, Perak PAS chief Razman Zakaria told party members to quit if they cannot agree with the party leadership’s decisions.

“If don’t agree with what has been decided, please complain to the relevant channel and if the decision is still the same, then it is better that we leave and set up a new party.

“That is better than continuing to sit in PAS but at the same time trying to split it up in a planned manner,” he was quoted saying.

Razman said PAS will not block anyone from setting up a new party as such actions were not unusual in a country which practises the parliamentary democracy system.

“No problem about that matter, anyone who is qualified, is free to form a new party and we from PAS itself will also not block that,” he said, citing Datuk Zaid Ibrahim as an example of a politician who had quit PKR and went on to set up Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air.

On February 23, an audio recording allegedly of PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, also known as Mat Sabu, plotting a “counter-offensive” against Hadi was leaked online.

In the two-minute-10-second recording, a voice said to be Mat Sabu’s laid out a strategy to change PAS members’ perception of the party president after the Selangor mentri besar crisis.

The clip, titled “voice recording transcript part 1”, was posted on the Facebook profile called “Tuc Tok Usin Ceroi”, which is popular with the clergy faction in PAS.

Earlier last month, Kuantan PAS Youth claimed of a plot by more than half of the party’s central committee leadership to bring down Hadi and the ulama faction.

Kuantan PAS Youth chief Fadhli Ibrahim accused PAS central committee member Dr Hatta Ramli of leading the conspiracy to sabotage the party and to turn Hadi into a “puppet”.

But both Hatta and chairman of the Islamist party’s splinter group PasMa Datuk Phahrolrazi Zawawi have since denied being involved in the alleged plot.