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Hadi conspired to form Selangor unity government with Umno, says former PAS veep

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang admitted wanting to work with Umno to set up a unity government in Selangor during last year's menteri besar crisis, claims a former vice-president of the Islamist party. Datuk Husam Musa said Hadi had confessed to his plans when several colleagues in PAS confronted him about it. "Our president himself admitted to this when many asked him about it," Husam told a ceramah in Kota Baru, Kelantan, last night to explain the reason PAS was now fractured. Husam, in his first public speech since recovering from ill health, said the president's plans to cooperate with Selangor Umno contributed to PAS's current state. "I ended up like this, Mat Sabu ended up like this because of Umno's conspiracy to join forces with PAS," said Husam, referring to former PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, who set up Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) after he and other PAS progressives lost at the party polls in June. Husam said Hadi had admitted approaching several PKR assemblymen to ensure PAS and Umno had enough numbers to form the Selangor government. But the PKR representatives informed their party of the matter and the plan was eventually scuttled. However, Husam said Hadi had not given up on the idea of working with Umno, despite opposition from party grassroots. He said the PAS president had come up with a new idea: to act as an advisor to the government. This came about after Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz said it would be difficult to add more ministers to the Cabinet, said Husam. "Datuk Nazri said, don't join, there are enough ministers. That is why the idea of appointing an advisor, who will be on the same level as a minister, came up." Sinar Harian reported Hadi as saying on Saturday that the party did not want to bring Datuk Seri Najib Razak down, but was instead offering the embattled prime minister help to improve his policies. – November 6, 2015.