IT started with a “vote BN-UMNO” appeal but confusion arose as to how should PAS grassroots should cast their votes in the Puteri Wangsa contest which features a five-corner fight but primarily pitting unofficial Pakatan Harapan (PH) poster boy Dr Maszlee Malek against Barisan Nasional’s Teow Chia Ling from MCA.
This was when the call by the party’s deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man was mocked by seemingly Madani backers that PAS was imposing upon its members to vote for a kafir (infidel) candidate or that the party “is rejecting a Muslim candidate even when it’s hell-bent to uphold the Muslim ummah (solidarity)”.
This eventually led to an ‘edict’ by the Islamist party’s supremo Tan Sri Hadi Awang who yesterday (June 29) called on PAS members and Muslim electorate in particular not to vote for PH, including in seats that are witnessing a straight clash between BN and PH.
In fact, the eight-term Marang MP had in his “PAS President Mind’ rant earlier stressed the need for Malay Muslims to unite by choosing Malay Muslim and non-Muslim leaders who are not extreme in their demeanours.
In contrast, they must reject “non-Muslim extremists who oppose Islam and plan to take over the country by joining forces with Malays who are liberal and have no love for their own religion and race (presumably a reference to PH)”.
But this arrangement is not so straight forward as it seems if the exposé by former vocal UMNO supreme council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi can be trusted.
According to the former Johor state assembly speaker, UMNO leaders “have quietly negotiated” with PAS to form a political alliance to face upcoming elections, especially the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state polls.
“Among the initial agreements was that PAS will not contest the Johor state elections. All seats will be contested by BN,” revealed the former Rengit state assemblyman.
“UMNO leaders including Datuk Wira Megat Zulkarnain Omardin (political secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) believe that the negotiations are successful and UMNO will win big in Johor.”
Editor’s Note: Officially, however, UMNO has insisted that there is no secret pact between both parties.
To cut a long story short, detractors whether they are Madani backers or wise Muslims, have rejected Hadi and PAS’ latest political manoeuvres.
As one netizen to an Utusan Malaysia Facebook post on Hadi’s latest spiritual thoughts subtly put it, Muslims should be encouraged to choose leaders who are intelligent, virtuous, dislike making enemies and understand the progress and needs of the country, among others.
“… We reject leaders who are religiously motivated, who have jobs but don’t do their jobs such as skipping Dewan Rakyat sessions but still getting their allowance, and many more…😎” jibed the commenter given Hadi’s infamous high absenteeism rate.
Another commenter wondered isn’t Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim a Muslim leader going by PAS’ argument?
“PMX is promoting Islam in Malaysia much better than PAS even though he has only been in power for four years. PMX is truly the best Islamic leader Allah has bestowed upon us in this era,” he opined.
As such, former education minister Maszlee as a Malay-Muslim candidate or even the MUDA candidate (Rashifa Aljunied) should be favoured over his MCA contender, justified some commenters.
In essence, PAS has frequently been shifting its stance between its friends and enemies over the years, the most notable was in 2012 when Hadi stressed that “it’s mandatory to support DAP and reject UMNO till dooms day comes”. – June 30, 2026
