We have thought thoroughly, Hadi stands firm on working with PN

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang says the party will remain in Muafakat Nasional as long as it serves to unite the community, following his statement today attacking those who strayed from the agreement signed with Umno in 2019.

He said PAS was already committed to the charter, but that Umno appeared to have reneged on a pledge to bring in Bersatu as a third party.

He said both he and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had signed the letter inviting Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to join them.

“I have signed, Zahid has signed, inviting Muhyiddin. I can show you the letter,” he told reporters after his weekly religious lecture in Rusila, Terengganu, today.

Earlier, Hadi penned a lengthy statement urging Muslim groups to unite under the Perikatan Nasional coalition, while saying his party would not be part of any agreement that strays from the Muafakat Nasional charter.

His remarks came amid repeated calls from Zahid reminding PAS that it was bound by Muafakat Nasional, the charter of cooperation between PAS and Umno.

Yesterday, Zahid said PAS should think thoroughly about its agreement with Umno, and reminded the Islamist party of failed political pacts it had entered into with other parties in the past.

Zahid said among others that a lack of honesty had led to the collapse of cooperations inked by PAS in the 1990s, such as the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah which included DAP, and with Semangat 46, the now-defunct party once led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

But Hadi today said PAS had already weighed throroughly its commitment to the PN coalition.

“We have had so much experience. We had cooperated with everyone. You can read history as far back as the 50s and 60s,” he said.

He said PAS had survived as a political force, adding that those who split with it had since collapsed.

“I don’t have to mention names. Read history. Read from the history of the 50s when PAS worked with Parti Negara, where is Parti Negara now? PAS is still around.

“Then we worked with the Socialist Front. Where is the Socialist Front now? PAS is still around.”

He said PAS had also worked with Barisan Nasional, referring to the party joining the coalition in the 1970s.

“PAS is still around. Where is Barisan Nasional now?”

Hadi said, likewise, Semangat 46 is also no longer around.

“There are many instances.”

He said various state Umno chapters are split over the party president’s stand on working with PN.

“The Umno ministers have not resigned. What is important is battling Covid-19,” he said.