AS IF he had the foresight, former UMNO president Tun Abdul Razak Hussein had during his lifetime reminded the Malays to choose PAS as their ‘saviour’ in the event that something unforeseeable happened to the former political party.
Such prophecy is likened by PAS Teluk Intan chairman Azhar Rafiei as foretelling that one day UMNO “will be damaged by leaders who are only keen to uphold their self-interest to the point they are willing to sideline principles of the struggle that has existed all these while”.
Commenting further on the decision of UMNO’s Supreme Council to expel and suspend several party leaders for six years, including Khairy Jamaluddin, Tan Sri Noh Omar (both sacked), Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein and Shahril Hamdan (both suspended), Azhar said the time has come for UMNO members to embark on soul-searching.
“The decision will definitely cause disappointment among UMNO grassroots members and supporters. When some spoke up to defend the principles of the struggle and decision made at the UMNO General Assembly, they were booted out of the party,” he told PAS mouthpiece HarakahDaily.
“This is the time for UMNO members to come together with PAS and the Perikatan Nasional (PN)-led ‘Green Wave’ movement to uphold the struggle that they have supported all this while, including the ummah (Muslim community) unification agenda.”
Azhar further enlightened UMNO members that PAS is fighting to create both a society and a government that implements Islamic living values and laws that are in sync with God’s will.
“This is enshrined in Clause 5 of the PAS Constitution,” he justified. “I believe this policy is very close to the soul of UMNO members and their struggle. Hence, this is the right time to join PAS to resume the struggle once pursued by their parents or great-grandparents even if it’s on a different platform”.
Bloomberg has described UMNO’s purging of senior leaders as fortifying the grip of its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi even at the expense of the party seeing a decline in popularity amid infighting and corruption scandals whereby the Deputy Prime Minister himself faces 47 counts of money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges.
“Tonight, I was fired by the party I love, whom I gave allegiance to. Unbowed, unbent, unbroken,” Khairy who was the former Rembau MP and health minister, penned in a Facebook post once the outcome of his fate in UMNO was made known to him.
Khairy who was unable to see eye-to-eye with Zahid has since been courted by PAS and Gerakan which are both members of the PN coalition – Jan 30, 2023
