Nik Aziz’s son says Hadi was betrayed

PETALING JAYA: PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang was forced to act in trying to defuse the Selangor crisis because of “betrayal” by some PAS leaders and the party’s allies in Pakatan Rakyat, Pasir Mas MP Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz said today.

The son of the party’s spiritual leader accused two Selangor PAS assemblyman of treachery when they declared support for PKR’s sole menteri besar (MB) candidate, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

“When these two traitors sided with PKR, that’s when PAS’ stability started to crack. PKR has also betrayed our friendship when they accepted the support of these two assemblymen,” he said in a press statement.

He said the president had chosen to save the relationship between the parties instead of taking the drastic action of pulling out the Islamist party from the pact despite facing betrayal from its own men and allies.

“Hadi had to compromise as the Syura Council’s original decision was contradictory to the stand taken by the central committee during its meeting on Aug 17.

“At the meeting, it was decided that the party would withdraw support for Khalid Ibrahim and named two new candidates for the post including Wan Azizah.

“This shows that our president is a man with a big heart. He could influence the Syura Council to accept that Pakatan needs saving.

“Unfortunately, the significant decision only lasted four or five hours because the Pakatan leadership later met in Hadi’s absence and decided that only Wan Azizah’s name would be submitted following Azmin’s decision to decline the nomination,” said Nik Abduh.

He criticised PKR and DAP for not being grateful for Hadi’s numerous attempts to repair the tension.

“Did PKR not see the tolerant attitude displayed by the President? Did DAP give him any breathing room to preserve Pakatan’s stability? No, right?
“So who started the treachery and who is continuing it?” Nik Abduh asked.

Nik Abduh said the present MB crisis could force the president’s hand in no longer seeking consultation with PKR and DAP and would deliberate on internal issues on his own.

“If yesterday, you saw how united some PAS leaders were with their PKR and DAP counterparts in trying to sabotage their own president, today you are seeing how the ulama factions in the party are fully behind the president’s new action.

“Selamat bertarung di ‘KuborMove’, Jumpa di sana. (Good luck with the KuborMove. See you there)”, Nik Abduh added in reference to PKR’s Kajang Move that had begun the lengthy crisis within Pakatan.

PAS is contesting the Pengkalan Kubor by-election on Sept 25, a seat that was formerly contested by PKR.

-fmt