Beware of leaders who prioritise politics over Islam, PAS told

(Malay Mail Online) – PAS members must be wary of supporting leaders who prioritise politics and winning elections over Islam, a central committee member has said ahead of next month’s party election.

Nasrudin Hassan said the reason behind PAS’s “crisis” was not because of factionalism, but because of some leaders who are willing to compromise the party’s Islamic agenda in order to garner popular support.

“There are those who are greedy to win, and to them it is okay to win first and then only think about Islam. This is wrong.

“We cannot build a nation of ignorant people on the ruins of Islam,” the former PAS youth chief said when officiating the Federal Territories’ PAS youth, ulama and women’s wing here.

“There is still a crisis due to our definition as a party.

“What is PAS? Some misunderstand PAS as a political party, and that is why they place more importance on political goals than hudud,” Nasruddin stressed.

The Temerloh MP did not name the PAS leaders he was referring to, but added that these leaders are the real reason behind the infighting within the Islamist party.

“Some of these leaders even suggested in the past that the post of deputy, vice-president be given to a non-Muslim.

“Some of these people are not ready to make PAS an Islamic party, just a political front while their allegiance lies elsewhere,” he added.

PAS’s opaque plans over hudud has  prompted hostile responses from allies PKR and DAP, with the open discord sending the pact into a crisis that has senior leaders already bracing for its disintegration.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has accused PR politicians who disagreed with the implementation of the Islamic criminal law of prioritising success in elections over public safety.

The Kelantan state assembly approved the Shariah Criminal Code (II) (1993) 2015 Enactment on March 19 with 31 votes from PAS lawmakers supported by 12 from Umno.

PAS also submitted a private member’s Bill to Parliament to remove the legal obstacles that prevent the enforcement of hudud in Kelantan, which requires bipartisan support from Umno and others to pass.

The Bill did not make it into the April sitting’s agenda, however, and PAS has since confirmed that the party will again seek to table it later this month.