He was commenting on a report in the party’s newspaper Harakah which quoted PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang as saying PAS had held informal discussions with certain quarters in Umno about cooperation.

Abdul Hadi had said PAS had the right to hold talks with Umno members who were willing to cross over.

“It is not just Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who has the right to hold such negotiations. We also have the right to hold negotiations. It is the same with the DAP. They also have the right to do so,” he said.

“If other people can meet Umno members, why can’t PAS? That is a misunderstanding. On the basis of Islamic principles, we also have the right. PAS can negotiate with any party.

“No one is the leader of Pakatan Rakyat. It is a collective leadership and we agreed that leaders of respective parties have influence to court friends from Barisan Nasional.

“Therefore, the issue of why PAS people are meeting Umno members does not arise. It is only village politics that bans meetings between Umno and PAS. We have supported engagements mentioned in our muktamar.

“Meetings between individuals from PAS and those from Umno are to convey messages relating to Islam.

“We stress the importance of Islam so that Umno will change. For instance, in the 12th general election, Umno wanted the party to win, not Islam.”

Husam said: “From what I understand, Abdul Hadi was talking about Umno members joining PAS and not vice-versa. That is the issue and there could be deliberate attempts to mislead PAS leaders.”

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment