Pas’54th Muktamar: Party chiefs slammed for appeasing Anwar

Pas’54th Muktamar: Party chiefs slammed for appeasing Anwar

By : Ridzwan Abdullah

IPOH: The Pas leadership came under attack yesterday for putting Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and its Pakatan Rakyat partners above the party's own interests.

Several delegates at the 238-member Pas youth assembly did not mince their words when they blamed the party leadership for paying too much attention to Anwar and his political agenda.

They accused party leaders of championing Anwar's cause for political mileage and to boost their own popularity with the masses.

Terengganu delegate Wan Khairy Wan Abdullah set the ball rolling when he questioned why Pas leaders were obsessed with Anwar.

He then delivered a short history lesson, reminding party members that it was Pas which had been supportive of his activist agenda before his entry into politics.

"But what did he do in the end? He dumped us and joined Umno," he said to restless murmurings from the floor.

He said despite this, party leaders obviously had not learnt their lesson. Wan Khairy said Pas now had to take a backseat when it came to ties within Pakatan Rakyat.

"We (Pas) have bigger challenges ahead but our struggles and principles are being compromised by the other two parties (PKR and DAP)," he said to loud chants of "Allahu Akbar".

He said party leaders were always trying to hide this fact by emphasising the importance of preserving unity within Pakatan.

"Does that mean we have to be sensitive to their needs and keep quiet just because we are in a marriage.

"We are giving a warning now, Pas will not be bullied in our quest to champion the Islamic struggle."

By the time Zulkifli Ahmad, the delegate from Selangor, took the floor, the delegates were primed for another round of leadership bashing.

Quite simply, Zulkifli said the party leadership should stop being doormats for its Pakatan partners.

He said whenever party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang brought up the issue of Malaysia as an Islamic state, there were other leaders within Pas who distanced themselves for fear of upsetting its Pakatan partners.

"They even have the gall to tell him not to talk about it."

Pas was willing to bend over so much to the extent that some of its leaders were even supportive of Anwar's aspirations to be the next prime minister, Zulkifli said.

"We have our own president who is more qualified and yet they want Anwar. Is it because they are so taken up by his claim of forming the government on Sept 16?

"What is our party's obsession with Anwar, anyway? Even in our own party organ, Harakah, there is more news about Anwar than about our own leaders."

Many also expressed their dissatisfaction on how the muzakarah (unity talks) with Umno was handled.

"The behind-the-scene approach had caused confusion among our supporters.

"We should have backed off in the early stages itself," Malacca delegate Yuhaizat Abdullah said.

kzso - we'll wait fo tg nik aziz and tg hadi comment in the muktamar proper.