Are you bitter because DAP didn’t back your PM dream in 2013? Kit Siang asks Hadi

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s latest attacks against the DAP could be from resentment since 2013, Lim Kit Siang suggested today.

The DAP lawmaker said Hadi’s recent remarks in Bintulu, Sarawak which he described as a “hate speech” appeared to be “deeply entrenched resentment” and wondered if it was related to his party’s rejection of PAS prime ministerial candidate two general elections ago when both were still allies in Pakatan Rakyat.

“Is Hadi taking his revenge and falsely accuse DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam because DAP did not support his ambition to become Prime Minister-designate under Pakatan Rakyat in 2013?” the Iskandar Puteri MP asked in a statement.

Lim noted that Hadi has been going around the country painting DAP as a Chinese party seeking to control state wealth resources without proof.

He called the actions a deliberate attempt to stir up the Malay Muslim majority.

Recalling his version of events prior to the 13th general election in 2013, Lim said he was approached by the PAS leadership for discussions on who would be prime minister if their Pakatan Rakyat alliance won, adding that they felt PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was an unsuitable choice.

“PAS leaders were quite astute as not to suggest themselves that Hadi should be the Prime Ministerial candidate for Pakatan Rakyat, and diplomatically suggested that their proposal for a suitable Prime Ministerial candidate was veteran Umno politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah,” Lim said.

He added that PAS stopped pushing the matter when DAP maintained support for Anwar.

Lim said that when the DAP leaders had dissented to the proposal and held steadfast to their view that it should be Anwar who would take the said position if Pakatan Rakyat had won in 2013, PAS had allegedly stopped pursuing the matter, as the Islamist party purportedly knew that it would not succeed in getting DAP’s support for the move.

He contrasted the PAS leadership’s stance under Hadi to the Islamist party’s past presidents, Datuk Fadzil Muhammad Noor and Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

“This was why DAP could accept Fadzil Noor and Nik Aziz as Prime Minister-designate for Malaysia, but not Hadi Awang.

“This has been illustrated by Hadi’s spiteful speech at Bintulu just to pave the way for PAS foray into Sarawak where a person who could once expressed his gratitude to DAP for defending PAS when it was down and out could turned  around to tell fake news and express hate speech about the DAP,” Lim said, adding that neither Fadzil nor Nik Aziz would have voiced such remarks.

The DAP veteran noted that Hadi was courting Gagasan Parti Sarawak (GPS) which currently controls the state government in preparation for the state election due by 2021 to avoid a repeat of its embarrassing defeat in 2016, when it fielded 11 candidates and lost all contests with many losing their electoral deposits.

“Is his hate speech in Bintulu making baseless allegations against the DAP meant to pave the way for PAS to team up with GPS in Sarawak, after his alliance with Umno?” Lim asked.

Hadi was reported by The Borneo Post as saying GPS to be more trustworthy than DAP, adding that he was open to collaborating with the Sarawak ruling coalition.

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