PAS: Higher-ups will decide on ties with DAP
Mustafa Ali says a debate doesn’t matter because ultimate power is with top councils
(Free Malaysia Today) – It is the central committee and the Shura Council of PAS that will decide whether the party severs ties with the DAP, the party’s secretary-general, Mustafa Ali told the party’s general assembly in Kuala Selangor today.
Playing down the party’s decision not to debate the motion, endorsed by the religious leaders in the Dewan Ulama, Mustafa said any decision at the assembly floor was not final, whether or not a debate was held.
The motion called for the party to end relationships with the DAP while still remaining in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It comes in response to the DAP’s decision earlier this year to sever ties with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for pushing the hudud issue, while maintaining ties with PAS as a party.
Mustafa reminded delegates that the central committee and Shura Council comprising ulamas were the party’s supreme decision-making bodies. In 1986 and 1999, it was they who decided on cooperation with other political parties.
Matters of political cooperation were similar to Islamic rulings or “hukum”. “There is a hukum to join or to cooperate. So there must also be a hukum to cut ties. These hukum are discussed at the highest levels before a decision is taken,” he was quoted as saying in his winding-up speech.
This morning, some delegates had protested at the lack of debate on the motion tabled by the Dewan Ulama.
