Calls within PAS to end Muafakat Nasional not representative of all, says its spiritual leader

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — PAS spiritual leader Datuk Hashim Jasin has acknowledged there are some voices within his party pushing for an end to its alliance with Umno under the Muafakat Nasional (MN) pact.

However, the senior cleric insisted that its advocates did not represent the voice of the Islamist party as a whole, Berita Harian reported today.

In an interview with the Malay newspaper, Hashim said PAS will continue to uphold its end of the political cooperation accord signed in 2019.

“For us, we are not giving up on the position of both parties and will continue to strengthen the agreement in MN. This is my hope, in fact, it is the same thing that the others want, whether it be the grassroots or all levels of party leadership.

“So if there are any voices that are heading towards it [dismantling MN], it does not represent the voice of the party as a whole,” he was quoted saying.

He maintained the stance when asked about Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s reported call to reject all cooperation with Umno whom the PAS president alleged to have broken the accord.

He told Berita Harian that Hadi’s opinion was his alone and not the official stance of the Islamist party.

“Everyone has their own view on the issue. Not all Umno people can accept it but we hope that everyone can be open to this question and subsequently put MN as the ultimate goal and aspiration,” Hashim told the paper, referring to the agreement between PAS and Umno to work together to unite the Muslims in the country.

Hashim demurred when asked if PAS could broker peace between the other two Malay-Muslim based political parties Umno and Bersatu, whose leaders have become openly hostile towards each other.

“I can’t answer this personally. We have to wait for the decision of the PAS Syura Council. Afterwards, it would be easy for me to state what the decision may be. The Syura Council meeting will convene to discuss the issue of MN,” he was quoted as saying.

The Syura Council is PAS’ decision-making non-elected group of top leaders comprising purely of Muslim clerics.