KUALA LUMPUR – PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has again refuted the allegation that his party accepted a bribe of RM90 million from Umno, as published by Sarawak Report on August 6, 2016.
He said PAS is not prone to “selling off” its struggle for the price of RM90 million or for ranks and positions.
According to him, PAS is part of a continuation of the Islamic struggle, as God had promised that such a group would exist as long as the world has not been hit by apocalypse.
He said PAS would surely have been able to take power in the country in the last general election if it had RM90 million in its coffers.
“If it is true that Umno had given a RM90 million bribe, it would be very stupid to do such a thing that could ‘kill’ itself, such that it brought down its own government in states where Pakatan Harapan (PH) was not strong and Umno was stronger.”
“With RM90 million, if it really existed, it would have been easier for PAS to destroy PH, which spends a lot of money on social media to spread lies far and wide without faith and principles due to the diversity of its members,” he said in a post on his Facebook page today.
The Marang MP further said that the Islamist party did not have the capacity to organise on social media to respond to the allegations – let alone to propagate large-scale slander, deceit, and falsehoods – because it would be too expensive.
He said that the sin committed in such an act could not be repaid with RM90 million, or more.
Hadi asserted that if PAS really had that sum of money, it would surely not have “leaked” any of the funds.
“So, if there was a donation of RM90 million, it would be spent properly and would not be wasted. If invested, then the turnover would become more than RM900 million.
“Before, we heard this fairy tale that PAS received RM90 million, money was contributed by PAS members – the majority of whom are not rich and only a few contributed to PAS, even then the sum did not reach one million ringgit,” he said.
The PAS president said that many wealthy people were unwilling to contribute because they did not believe PAS could win the polls and form the government.
“However, PAS could compete in the election, thanks to the donations of its members across the country, including in Sabah and Sarawak, and most of the contests were in Umno areas.
“Suddenly, PAS was able to capture three states and be in the government by inviting Umno, Bersatu, and other parties to overthrow the fragile PH government,” he said, in obvious reference to the takeover of Putrajaya with the Sheraton Move in March 2020.
Hadi also said that genuine PAS members knew that the great sacrifices undertaken for the sake of upholding Islam required sincere donations, halal money, and blessings.
He added that PAS’ elected representatives must deduct money to be handed to the party. PAS members at all levels contribute, such that even the poorest farmers, fishermen, and manual labourers do so with total sincerity, he said.
“In fact, there are PAS members who have sold their lands and so on because they wanted to help pay the deposits of candidates contesting in their constituencies, as the candidates had no money,” he said.
Hadi, who has been appointed Malaysia’s special envoy to the Middle-East by the current government, said PAS exhorts its members to truly develop self-strength with fuller faith or belief, rather than just having integrity as vaunted by other parties.
He said self-strength with the concept of faith would cause a person to be willing to sacrifice their property and very soul.
“This effectively makes them not dependent on bribery, whatever it may be, especially contributions that lower one’s self-respect, whether in politics or other matters.
“PAS also educates its members that it is not permitted to accept inducements that have corrupt elements or to sell off their doctrine of struggle just because there is no blessing. Without blessings, we will not get the help of God, who is the real hope,” he added.
Therefore, he claimed, anyone who tries to bring the money politics into PAS’ electoral activity would be rejected as such acts are only intended for wealth and position.
Such people only end up leaving the party by themselves, he said.
“Many of these people only pretend to be in PAS or treat PAS just like a transit home. If they do not make Islam the principle of their struggle, they will leave PAS or fall along the way,” he said.
In spite of this, he said the party’s membership has always multiplied despite the change of leaders. Some had died along the way in the struggle, he stressed.
“Some people left PAS because they were impatient and ran away because they felt the journey was deemed to be far away from victory in this world. This is the wisdom of the Islamic struggle based on faith, not ideology,” he said.
He added that PAS continues to invite Umno to accept the concept of the unity of the community according to Islam, and this is not restricted to the two parties.
He stressed that without unity, PAS would not try to contest against other parties, including Umno, as this was how the party’s history in the political arena was shaped. – The Vibes, September 27, 2022
