KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has lashed out against PAS for breaking its promise to support him as prime minister until the end of his term.
The former prime minister said the Islamist party has not held to Islamic principles for doing so, and later supporting Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin instead.
He said the abuse of Islam as a political tool is a despicable thing that would divide the Muslim community.
“That is why I didn’t agree with PAS, although they supported me, I did not like them because up until now they do not take back their views that anyone who is not a PAS member is not a Muslim.
“This is my frustration with the PAS leadership,” he told Sinar Harian in an interview.
In 1981, now party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had penned the “Amanat Hadi”, where he called Umno and Barisan Nasional supporters infidels and called for a “jihad” or holy war against them.
Dr Mahathir said this was compounded by PAS breaking its promise by supporting someone else during the interview with Yang di-Pertuan Agong to determine who commands the majority support of Dewan Rakyat.
“So what does this mean with what they said and what they did? This was very disappointing.
“They themselves do not hold to Islamic teachings. When we make a promise, we must keep it,” he said.
PAS had initially vowed to support Dr Mahathir, even planning to table a “confidence vote” for him in Parliament. It would later call for a snap election, and eventually support Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to become part of the Perikatan Nasional government.
