Mat Sabu: Befriend Umno and out you go
Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) will not tolerate any member of this new political movement who befriends or supports arch rival Umno, its pro-tem committee chief Mohamed Sabu has declared.
This seems to be a tacit warning to PAS leaders as well, including its president Abdul Hadi Awang, who are currently perceived as cozying up to Umno.
Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) will not tolerate any member of this new political movement who befriends or supports arch rival Umno, its pro-tem committee chief Mohamed Sabu has declared.
This seems to be a tacit warning to PAS leaders as well, including its president Abdul Hadi Awang, who are currently perceived as cozying up to Umno.
“Whoever friends with Umno, out you go,” Mohamed, better known as Mat Sabu, said to loud applause at an Aidilfitri dinner event with the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in Seberang Jaya, last night.
Mat Sabu said GHB, comprising former progressives from PAS, are being accused of wanting an easy life when they decided to set up the PAS splinter group.
The decision to form the new group came after DAP declared that Pakatan Rakyat in its former form was dead , after PAS at its 61st muktamar in early June passed a motion cutting off its ties with DAP for severing ties with Hadi.
However, Mat Sabu rejected any notion that GHB leaders were seeking an easy way out after their defeat in the PAS leadership elections, in which the conservative ulama wing dominated.
“We had a difficult life in PAS, some MPs like Khalid Samad (Shah Alam) and Mujahid Yusof Rawa (Parit Buntar) may not even have enough allowances to get by,” he said, referring to the duo who were also present at the event.
“Now we are planning to set up a new party. It is even more difficult. Aren’t you all purposely looking for difficulties?” Mat Sabu asked.
‘Just go to Umno… there is plenty of money’
“Why don’t you all just go to Umno? There is plenty of money from 1Malaysia Development Bhd.”
Also present at last night’s event were senior DAP adviser and Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang.
The debt-ridden sovereign fund is currently being investigated, after The Wall Street Journal reported on July 3 that companies linked to it deposited RM2.6 billion into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s private bank accounts.
Mat Sabu said despite facing difficulties in forming the new party, which is poised to replace PAS in a new opposition coalition come the 2018 national polls, the group’s purpose is to “save Malaysians”.
He said institutions such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) may be in trouble after seven of its senior officers were detained by the police and two abruptly transferred to the Prime Minister’s Department, allegedly due to their work in the 1MDB scandal.
“But Malaysians are in deeper trouble due to the failing economic situation in the country,” Mat Sabu lamented.
“So, no matter who you are, whether you are from Umno, GHB, DAP, PKR or from NGOs, please change the leadership of this country in the coming general election,” Mat Sabu urged.
“If the new government misappropriates funds, change it. The more you change, the happier Malaysians will be.”
Mat Sabu said he had planned to take a holiday after the PAS’ 61st muktamar in June. He has also quit his posts in the Penang government.
Mat Sabu said his spouse has been complaining that in all their 35 years of marriage, he had only stayed at home for about a year.
That was due to his many detentions, including being held in Kamunting under the Internal Security Act, Mat Sabu said.
“I want to be free like others, walk hand-in-hand with my wife on the beach, like some Western senior citizens do.
“But after seeing all the chaos in the country, after seeing what happened to me, my wife told me, ‘It’s okay even if you don’t come home. Continue with your struggle’,” he said, to loud cheers from the crowd.
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