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The issue in the party is the deep divide between the ulama and the progressives.

KUALA LUMPUR: Klang MP Charles Santiago has expressed surprise that the Kelantan Government, under PAS, is at odds with what the majority of the people in the state want viz. better management of the economy in the face of rising prices and the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST), poor infrastructure and uncertainty following the worst floods in living memory in December.

The people of Kelantan have spoken up loud and clear, attempting to knock some sense into PAS, said Santiago. Yet all PAS can think about is the hudud law.

PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang, he noted, has always been at odds with Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and even foolishly tried to entice Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali into forming a unity government with Umno. If PAS, under Hadi, goes ahead with the hudud law in the Kelantan Assembly and Parliament, PR cannot just keep quiet.

The issue in the party is the deep divide between the ulama and the progressives.

The ulama, he noted, want to form a unity government with Umno despite the latters corrupt and unIslamic image, while the progressives subscribe to Pakatans Common Policy Framework (CPF) which the ulama also accepted in 2008 in the wake of the political tsunami on March 8 that year when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in Putrajaya lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time since 1969.

He urged Pakatan Rakyat, the opposition alliance, to take a tough stand on PAS on a number of issues including its open defiance of the CPF. Our pledge to the people was the CPF which again brought victory in 2013 when PR won the popular vote with 53 per cent of the votes counted and the BNs share of the seat count in Parliament dived further to 133 seats, said Santiago.

PAS stand, he added, was a betrayal of the people. Umno is the enemy and not to be trusted.

He referred to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Scandal and other issues of abuse of power, conflict of interest, and criminal breach of trust in Umno and yet the ulama want to team up with such an unIslamic and corrupt party.

The people, he reiterated, want better economic growth than the sluggish 3.6 per cent in 2013, and they need help to get back on their feet after the devastating floods. The Orang Asli in particular have been suffering.

See the article here:
Pakatan needs to act if PAS harps on hudud