HADI AWANG AS PM, NOT ANWAR

BEST....Hairun Nizam said Abdul Hadi was the 'best person' to lead the nation.

By : MOHD FARHAN DARWIS

KOTA BHARU : The PAS annual conference or muktamar was shaken today when a delegate from the party’s religious wing proposed party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for the post of prime minister and earned enthusiastic support from the floor.

Hairun Nizam, from the PAS Ulama wing, told the crowd of over 1,000 delegates here that PAS members should not lobby for other leaders to hold the post, claiming that Abdul Hadi was the “best person” to lead the nation.

“I’d like to ask the delegates — who is the best person to lead the Malaysian government if not for Tuan Guru president?” he said to boisterous shouts of “Takbir” from the floor as delegates shouted their approval.

“This is not for the sake of revering him, but he is the most qualified person to become the next prime minister... and we, as proteges of an Islamic party, should not campaign for others to take on the post,” he said in his speech during the debate on the party president’s address.

Hairun added that to form an Islamic state, the leader of the highest office in the country must be a person with a thorough knowledge of religious laws and practices.

“When a country becomes Allah’s congregation, is submissive to Allah, then it is only right that its top leader is one who knows the most about His commandments.

“This is to ensure that this Islamic government can progress without being influenced by matters that invite power abuse or that violate Islamic principles,” he said.

Hairun’s suggestion and the resounding support from party delegates contradict the stand taken by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leadership, which has repeatedly endorsed its de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the post of prime minister.

Just yesterday at the pact’s mammoth Himpunan Merdeka Rakyat rally in the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium here, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang reaffirmed this stand, declaring that PR parties DAP, PKR and PAS were united in selecting Anwar to replace Umno’s Datuk Seri Najib Razak should the pact wrest federal power in the next general election.

“Anwar will be the seventh prime minister, not the sixth,” he told the tens of thousands gathered at the venue.

The veteran politician said the stand was taken to “save” the country from the spread of corruption.

PR parties have repeatedly had to reaffirm their endorsement of Anwar as prime minister-designate to deflect criticisms from their political foes in Barisan Nasional (BN) that they were unable to achieve consensus on numerous issues.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek recently said that PR was unfit to rule the country due to the numerous conflicts among the pact’s three parties, pointing out that while some leaders have touted Anwar as prime minister, some have also said that the opposition leader was not the only qualified candidate for the post.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Anwar admitted that the coming 13th general election may be his last shot at power, saying that he may quit politics if PR fails in its bid to claim Putrajaya.

The influential business newspaper had noted that Anwar seemed tired for a man facing his best shot yet of governing a 28 million multiracial population fed-up with over half a century of BN rule that appears unable to reform politically, socially and economically.