BATU PAHAT, Sept 20 — PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu defended himself today from accusations that he had defied his party chief, pointing out that his party had vetted every media statement he made on the Selangor mentri besar crisis before they were released.
The popular public speaker also said he never praised Indonesian president Joko Widodo as being better than Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, but was merely reminding the party not to ignore the burgeoning third force in politics and to seek more allies.
“Whatever I said in front of the media were all resolutions from party meetings. On August 17, I read out the president’s statement, I did not change one thing,” Mohamad said in his winding up speech at the party’s annual congress, or muktamar, here.
He was referring to the party’s decision to nominate two names for the mentri besar post — PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah and her deputy Azmin Ali.
“Similarly on September 7, it was all resolutions from a meeting. In every press conference, I did not say anything myself, it was all from meetings,” he added.
PAS had confirmed on that day that the post will be reserved for PKR, and it will not pursue it for its own assemblyman.
Accused of making remarks that contradict Abdul Hadi’s announcements, Mohamad said he had never made any decision in the party where he did not first consult the president or its secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali.
In the muktamar which ends today, Mohamad has been the target of several delegates for allegedly defying Abdul Hadi and the clergy class, which makes up its decision-making Syura Council.
During the party’s Youth wing muktamar, around 20 pro-ulama delegates staged a walkout during Mohamad’s opening speech to signal their dissatisfaction against what they perceived as criticism against the clergy class.
His critics took issue with Mohamad — seen as friendly to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) allies PKR and DAP — after he warned PAS top leaders in an interview with news portal Malaysiakini against bandying their Islamic credentials for fear of losing relevance among Malaysians.
“This Jokoism is now prevalent. I have never said Joko as being better than Hadi,” explained Mohamad, who was tasked with monitoring democratic movement in the region.
“People have started looking at performance. If we want to win, we can win with Islamic policies, but we have to pay attention to our performance. This is the new trend.”
On Thursday, Abdul Hadi and Mohamad both downplayed rumours of a rift between the two top leaders in PAS, with the latter offering a loud roaring laughter.
Amid rumours that there were to be a walkout during party president Hadi’s keynote address orchestrated by his deputy — which inevitably did not happen — the two said all is well between them.
