UMNO veteran Secretary General Datuk Mustapha Yaakub chastised PAS leader Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang for labelling money given to the public during an election campaign as “charity.”
Describing Hadi’s latest statement as not surprising, Mustapha said it is possible that the PAS president has found an argument to legitimise handing money to voters.
He also added that Hadi issued many political ‘fatwas’ over the years to achieve his political goals, including an edict in which he said UMNO was an illegal entity, or Haram.
“Hadi has issued fatwas that have successfully convinced his followers to believe that the fatwas and arguments are right and true because Hadi is called the Tuan Guru, so what comes out of his mouth is all right and true,” Sinar Harian reported him as saying in a statement today.
He did not mince his words against the PAS leader calling his political edicts an act of hypocrisy.
On Saturday (Jan 21), Hadi said giving cash during the election campaign did not break any electoral rules because it was just almsgiving given to voters by members of the public.
A video of a man giving out money to various members of the public while wearing a skull cap went viral on Facebook and Twitter. He is heard instructing the recipients of the money that they should vote PAS after receiving the money, leading some to speculate that he was a member or supporter of the PAS.
“UMNO veterans urged Hadi to publicly apologise and withdraw his fatwa that disbelieved UMNO people.
“UMNO veterans also called on Hadi to return to the roots of the road and stop doing evil for the sake of the well-being of the ummah and the Malay nation,” said Mustapha. .
UMNO leaders starting from High Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also criticised the PAS leader for stating that an “electoral bribe” is “charity”. — Jan 23, 2023
Main photo credit: UMNO Online
