Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - It looks like Pas chief Hadi Awang is not fully recovered yet from ill health as the police had to go to his party headquarters to grill him after the Selangor Sultan sent him a fiery five-page warning letter - scolding him in no uncertain terms for alleged bad manners and possibly disrupting Muslim unity by creating "anxiety" and "confusion".
However, the 76-year-old Hadi, who has a history of heart disease, was still sharp enough to send a "letter of gratitude" to the Sultan in reply to the public royal scolding. No details were given as to what Hadi wrote to the Sultan about but an apology as well as a self-serving explanation would be among the least, according to political observers watching the usually arrogant Hadi's discomfort and embarrassment with glee.
NOT SO POWERFUL AFTER ALL
Perceived as an extremist, a racist and a barrier to racial unity by the non-Malays, Hadi is however considered a leader above reproach by his party and followers - 'untouchable' even to the likes of embattled Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who himself seems to be trying to carve out the same sort of 'hero' status among the Malay-Muslims, who form the country's predominant electorate, albeit unsuccessfully.
Unfortunately for Hadi, he met his match in Sultan Sharafuddin - who used the extensive powers of his royal office and the full might of a centuries-old pedigree to bring the Pas chief to heel.
Yet those who think they have seen the end of the 'Hadi vs the Royals' story would be jumping the gun. Regarded as a law unto himself in the four of Malaysia's 14 states that his Pas party controls, Hadi is as good as the supreme commander in his home state of Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis - despite all four states already having their own respective Malay ruler.
As a political leader, he has led Pas to unprecedented heights - handing the hapless Anwar regime an unprecedented drubbing during a recent state election. More elections are on the cards - with six Opposition MPs in line to lose their seats over a loyalty and party-hopping imbroglio. One of the seats is in Selangor, the Tanjong Karang seat.
"I don't think Hadi is being nice now to the Sultan because of the Tanjung Karang seat. I think he suddenly realizes that he is not so powerful anymore. The federal government is headed by Anwar who also controls the enforcement agencies such as the police, the anti-corruption commission and so forth - while the Malay rulers are the authority in Islam as per the federal constitution," an analyst told Politics Now!
"If his PN coalition was still holding the federal government, he would surely be more aggressive but now he risks being thrown into jail by Anwar and the Sultans joining forces together. Of course if Hadi is jailed, there will be repercussions because Pas has a few million members and is the No.1 party for the Malays now. But while they may protest and hold demonstrations for Hadi, their fervour for him may not be as strong as he and Pas thinks. So for now, for Hadi, it's a case of no point to test what may not turn out to be in his favour after all."
COPS ASKED HADI MANY QUESTIONS
Police are investigating Hadi for sedition and misuse of network facilities under the Sedition Act 1948 and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. If found guilty, he faces imprisonment as well as a fine for issuing an offensive statement against Malay rulers.
The Pas supremo had not only accused the Malay rulers for "looking only at worldly interests", but also lashed out at scholars, lawyers, judges, MPs, assemblymen after the Federal Court ruled to strike out 16 criminal provisions in the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (1) 2019 on Feb 9.
Sultan Sharafuddin, who is the chairman of the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs (MKI), had called on all Malaysians to respect the apex court’s decision and uphold the Federal Constitution as the supreme law of the nation. The Ruler called for calm while awaiting the results of a study by a special committee on the competency of state assemblies in enacting Islamic laws.
Hadi's response to the royal statement was to call on Muslims to uphold their faith in the wake of the court ruling, which diminishes his party's power and influence over Islamic matters in Kelantan, when he also stepped on royal toes by advising the Malay rulers against “looking only at worldly interests”.
Sultan Sharafuddin fired back, describing the remarks as “highly inappropriate and uncultured”, while a string of police reports were lodged against the Pas chief by various quarters..
On Tuesday (Mar 5), two police officers from the federal Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) classified crime investigation unit arrived at the Pas headquarters in Kuala Lumpur at around 2.15pm and spent about an hour recording his statement.
According to Hadi's political secretary Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman, many questions were posed to Hadi during the session. He said Hadi had given his cooperation and would now leave the matter to the cops
“Hadi has read the statements of the IGP (Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain) and Home Minister (Saifuddin Nasution Ismail) that a special task force has been formed to investigate this case concerning 3R (race, religion, royalty)," the Star reported Syahir, who is also the Bachok MP, as saying.
“We are committed to giving our full cooperation to facilitate the investigations."
Syahir also said Hadi’s health was recently affected, which resulted in him not turning up for the opening of Parliament on the advice of doctors. His absence had been seen as a snub to Malaysia's new King, Sultan Ibrahim.
However, he said Hadi’s health has since improved.
Meanwhile, Hadi had posted on Facebook post a day ago that he had sent a letter of gratitude to the Selangor Sultan through the Ruler’s secretary.
“This is to notify that a letter of gratitude was sent to His Majesty’s private secretary Datuk Lela Bakti dated March 4, 2024,” said Hadi.
Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
Politics Now!
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