PAS party organs are prepping for an all out psy-war against two 'disgruntled' party leaders, who are reportedly running around badmouthing the party.
The duo, former Selangor commissioner Hasan Ali and former deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa, are said to be inciting uneasiness within PAS and voicing comments negative to the party.
Party secretary-general Mustafa Ali (right) told party organ Harakahdaily in an exclusive interview that the duo met with several PAS leaders, asking them "to no longer believe in the party’s struggle".
"I was informed that Hasan has met with several PAS personalities to convince them to join him, claiming that the party can no longer be trusted.
“I shall not disclose who the personalities are, but I just want to mention what Hasan is doing under the ambit of PAS’ political enemies," he was quoted as saying in the Harakah journalist blog yesterday.
Mustafa also told the party organ that both Hasan and Nasharudin will not be long in the party, expecting them to leave soon, and labeling the duo who lost in the party elections as “sore losers”.
Mustafa's exclusive interview is believed to be part of this damage control measure, with a 30-minute video already filmed and a five-minute portion was released in Harakahdaily recently.
Excerpts of the interview will also be published in the party's bi-weekly on Monday's edition, which will hit the streets tomorrow.
Party insiders told Malaysiakini that the duo have been under observation by PAS leadership since middle of this year, after both stopped performing their party duties and started to go against the party line.
Nasharudin, for example, was appointed PAS international bureau chief, but he neither convened its committee nor attended the party’s leadership meetings.
So much so, he was stripped of his post and replaced by Tumpat MP Kamaruddin Jaafar.
Several controversial statements
While Hasan has never responded to invitations to join the Selangor PAS liaison committee, after losing the state commissioner post, he also never attended a single state leadership meeting.
However, things came to a head after Hasan issued several controversial statements during a press conference at his residence last Monday, in answer to a Malaysiakini report that he did not receive enough nominations to defend his Gombak Setia state seat.
For one, he said that he will only continue to work with PAS and Pakatan should they continue to support the Malays, Islam and the monarchy.
He also openly said that he would continue to work towards an Umno-PAS political union in the backdrop of Malay-Muslim unity, and hoped to be appointed to a high-level post in the federal committee on national unity by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Those comments triggered a flurry of calls for Hasan to step aside, though Nasharudin and several other PAS leaders, such as Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan, came to his defence.
It is not known if his support base are the same leaders approached by Hasan.
It is understood that the decision to mount this PR offensive is to ensure that any fallout from the duo’s negative statements and potential party-hopping will not jeopardise the party’s chances in the upcoming general election.
While Nasharudin could not be reached, Hasan refused to comment though he has scheduled a press conference early next week.