Hadi warns Umno’s court cluster against state elections game

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang today hit out at the court cluster in Umno over the recent string of state elections, in what appears to be his strongest statement since his party signed the now-redundant Muafakat Nasional treaty with the Barisan Nasional (BN) component.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a retreat to be attended by him and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin this weekend, he slammed the “strategy” of causing state elections, saying it was an attempt to escape criminal charges awaiting some Umno leaders.

“We know that the ones responsible for this strategy are the court cluster, those who lost the 14th general election, those who have no positions. Not everyone in Umno.”

Adding that those accused of criminal offences were not yet found guilty, he said they should keep their battles in court where they belong.

“If you have morals, fight it out in court, don’t burden the people,” he said.

“Here, they are causing trouble for the people with elections. They want to save themselves, so they trouble the people. If they are in the right, they should not be afraid to fight their charges in court.”

The court cluster refers to a group of Umno leaders including former prime minister Najib Razak and party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who are facing multiple corruption charges.

They were behind the plan last year to topple the government of Muhyiddin, who resigned after several MPs aligned with Najib revoked their support.

Speaking today, Hadi also suggested that Umno had been ungrateful to PAS, which he said had stood by the BN lynchpin in the aftermath of its downfall at the 2018 general election.

“We saved this duck with a broken leg,” he said. “But once its leg recovered, it wanted to swim on its own and it abandoned us. That is immoral and inappropriate.”