Kit Siang condemns Hadi in PAS heartland

(FMT) – Lim Kit Siang says PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang wrong to block efforts to get to the bottom of the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

Lim Kit Siang has come down hard on PAS at the party’s own turf in Terengganu, saying its experience of losing the state in 2004 under the leadership of its president Abdul Hadi Awang could well repeat itself in Kelantan at the next polls.

Speaking during his east coast tour “Jelajah Desa bersama Lim Kit Siang di Pantai Timur”, the DAP supremo said Hadi, who served as Terengganu menteri besar from 1999 to 2004 when PAS was part of a loose coalition with PKR and DAP, should be prepared for such a possibility instead of eyeing other states.

“Hadi has blocked any efforts (to cooperate with Pakatan Harapan) to get to the bottom of the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal as he does not see anything wrong or shameful about the 1MDB scandal.

“Will Hadi’s leadership lead to PAS losing Kelantan, in the same ignominous way Hadi lost Terengganu in the 2004 general election,” the Gelang Patah MP told a dialogue session in Kemaman last night.

Lim said Hadi’s “boasts” of wanting PAS to win five states in GE14 was a “very tall order”.

“Under Hadi’s leadership, PAS will not be in GE14 to win the five states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Kedah and Selangor. Instead, it will be a fight for its political life as to whether it could retain power in Kelantan, which it had captured since 1990,” he said.

He said PAS won Kelantan due to the leadership of the late Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who died in February 2015.

Yesterday, PAS snubbed a call from Pakatan Harapan to join hands in seeking a solution to allegations involving 1MDB, saying those accused of embezzling funds as contained in the recent filing by the US Department of Justice should be brought to justice.

But a senior PAS leader said it did not wish to be influenced by “foreign quarters”.

“Pakatan Harapan is now the enemy of PAS and they have also alleged PAS had received money from Umno,” said PAS central committee member, Khairuddin Aman Razali.

“We follow our own path. We are neither with Barisan Nasional (BN) nor with Pakatan Harapan. We have our own ways in acting on the 1MDB issue and do not follow the wishes of others,” he told FMT.