PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has confirmed that the party’s top-level leaders held meetings with the prime minister as early as after the March 8 polls.

hadi awang 010807In a statement released late last night on PAS' website HarakahDaily, the veteran politician said the meetings with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi were held on issues concerning Islam and Malays.

He said PAS deputy-president Nasaruddin Mat Isa attended the first meeting with Abdullah, who is also Umno president, straight after the general election.

"The first meeting held immediately after the elections was participated by Nasharudin, PAS central election director Mustapha Ali and Shah Alam parliamentarian Khalid Samad," he added.

Hadi said the meeting was reported to the PAS central committee and majlis syurah ulama (consultative council of religious scholars).

Following this, he said another meeting between Nasharudin and Abdullah took place at the Parliament building.

Hadi also stated that PAS is committed to ensuring that the talks are successful for the good of Islam and the Malays.

'Seeds of destruction'

In a related development, PAS vice-president Husam Musa slammed Abdullah's announcement of the PAS-Umno talks as an effort to "plant seeds of destruction in PAS."

husam musa 02He particularly lashed out at the term "top leaders" countering that PAS is not owned by any leader no matter how high their positions may be.

"PAS is an Islamic committee which functions in accordance to Islamic ethics which includes discussion (with all members)," he said in a statement.

He added that the announcement was an attempt to strengthen Abdullah's position amidst the Umno infighting.

He said Abdullah who is in a low political ebb may have taken a leaf out of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s book.

Husam said this in reference to Mahathir's efforts to curb the progress of the Islamic-based opposition party in the 1999 elections with the "Islamic nation" tag.

"He is also trying to tempt the people to lose confidence in Pakatan Rakyat, hindering the post-12th general election agenda, and trying to distant non-Malay voters away from PAS (like the scenario) 40 years ago," he added.

He stressed that if PAS has pertinent opinions, they can be announced to the people openly and Umno may accept or decline that suggestion, "without PAS being tied down to power sharing (arrangement) that indefinitely leaves PAS as the second fiddle."

Abdullah announced on Sunday that he had met with "very high level" leaders of PAS three times to discuss issues pertaining to Islam and the Malays.