G25: PAS man shouldn’t have headed moderation group

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Former PAS deputy president Datuk Nasharudin Mat Isa was a poor choice to lead the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMMF), said the G25 group when commenting on his impending removal.

The pro-moderation group comprising retired senior government officials said the position required the appointee to be a model of compassion and skilled at interacting with both the government and civil society.

In the role, Nasharudin was also expected to denounce the alleged abuses and excesses of the previous Barisan Nasional government, the G25 said.

“However, [he] was well known to lean on the support of conservative groups, including Jakim and other religious authorities, who practised exclusivity and intolerance, a clear contradiction of the official policy of moderation,” it said in a statement.

Among others, the group pointed out that the GMMF created by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak failed to censure authorities previously for the detention of Muslim scholar Mustafa Akyol allegedly for preaching without the necessary credentials.

It also did not criticise the Home Ministry previously for banning the G25’s book Breaking the Silence, which the group insisted was intended to promote moderation in Islam and a reconciliation of Islamic laws with the country’s Federal Constitution.

Given the GMMF’s purported goal of shaping global discourse on moderation and combating extremism, the G25 said such efforts must begin at home by seeking policies and practices consistent with moderation and tolerance.

“Datuk Dr Nasharudin Mat Isa should also know that he is out tune with the aspirations and policies of the new Malaysia’s government and it is best that he should step down on his accord, instead of being asked to leave,” it said.

The G25 went further by urging the Pakatan Harapan administration to dissolve the GMMF, saying its functions could be better performed by the Foreign Ministry in collaboration with local citizens groups and activists.

Najib mooted the GMM in 2010 to burnish his administration’s credentials in the area of moderation while the Islamic State terrorist group was nearing its zenith, and first named former deputy minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah as its head.

He later replaced Saifuddin with Nasharudin despite the latter’s overt religious conservative leanings.

The Star reported on Sunday that Putrajaya was planning to drop the former PAS deputy president as the head of the foundation.