MARANG, March 22 — The DAP must look at itself in the mirror before branding PAS a traitor as the party had also turned against PAS in the local government elections issue in Penang, says PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang. He said there was no place for ‘betrayal’ because DAP, via its adviser Lim Kit Siang had signed a joint statement in 2011 that ‘agreed to disagree’ in the implementation of the hudud law. The other signatory of the joint statement was Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, he said. “According to the joint statement made together, we (the Pakatan Rakyat) accept the fact that it is the Kelantan Government’s right (to implement hudud) and we give DAP the space to disagree. We Malays do not forget.
“Just as in the local council elections issue in Penang, we (PAS) did not agree but DAP was adamant in pursuing the matter. We remained silent even if we didn’t agree, but they are not keeping quiet (in the hudud issue). That’s the difference,” he said. Abdul Hadi said this at a press conference after the end of the third International ‘Ijtima’ For Ummah Solidarity here yesterday. Yesterday, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who is also Penang chief minister, described Abdul Hadi’s serving of notice to Parliament on March 18 seeking amendments to Act 355 or the Syariah Courts (Criminal) Jurisdiction Act 1965, as a traitorous and deliberate act of provocation to break up the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
Meanwhile, commenting on PKR’s stand not to back the private member’s Bill in Parliament, Abdul Hadi said this was normal in a democracy, and also because of differences in opinion in the party. Abdul Hadi, however, refused to comment on whether PAS would withdraw from PR because of the dispute but said “PAS was still with the pact”. Commenting on a statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri that the bill might not be tabled during the current Parliament session, he said the matter would be decided at the discretion of the Speaker (Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia). “The question of whether or not there is a majority (is applicable when voting later), our first obligation is to present the bill,” he said. — Bernama
