New pact with Mahathir will ensure Muslims dominate govt, says Hadi

(FMT) – PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said he was in favour of a new coalition that would ensure the government is in the hands of Muslims, amid intense speculation of a realignment of political alliances.

Speaking to reporters after his weekly pre-dawn religious lecture at Masjid Rusila in Marang, Terengganu, the PAS leader said the administration must be based on Islam with an assurance that past mistakes by the previous government would not be repeated.

Hadi, however, said it was too early for PAS to make any decision at the moment.

“(We) have to study it carefully. The first step was the formation of Muafakat Nasional, bringing together the political strength of Muslims and Malays,” Hadi said, referring to his party’s formal alliance with Umno.

“The political power of Islam must dominate the administration because Pakatan Harapan is bumbling,” he said.

Hadi said PH was dominated by non-Muslims “when Muslims constitute 69% of the population”.

“All of a sudden, they (non-Muslims) dominate the government,” he added.

Yesterday, Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa dismissed talk about the formation of a back-door government under the so-called Pakatan Nasional.

But he said such a speculation surfaced due to the uncertainty surrounding the handover of the prime minister’s post to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

“The problem now is that there are doubts that Anwar can get majority support. This automatically means that Mahathir would need to carry on in his role as the prime minister,” he added.

The claim of a new coalition in the works was made by Umno Supreme Council member Lokman Noor Adam earlier this week, who accused party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of supporting the plan in order to escape corruption charges.

On Jan 20, FMT reported that there could be a new political realignment that could thrust PAS into federal power, following several private meetings between Hadi and Mahathir.

It said the new alignment would bring together forces aligned to Mahathir with the clout that the Islamist party holds in the northern Malay heartland, with dire consequences for DAP and Anwar.

In his response, Mahathir played down the possibility of a collaboration with PAS, saying it was his job to meet “everybody”.

“Yes, there is a picture of me greeting Haji Hadi. I greet everybody including unkind reporters,” the prime minister said.