'A team comprising of Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Nizar Jamaluddin and Dr Asri would be formidable indeed. That is the ideal PAS Dream Team to lead Pakatan into the next general elections.'
Aziz Bari in 'hot seat' at PAS seminar
Nicholas Lim: A team comprising of Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Nizar Jamaluddin and former Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin would be formidable indeed. That is the ideal PAS Dream Team to lead Pakatan Rakyat into the next general elections.
Lusiapa: Professor Abdul Aziz Bari's comments are indeed timely. It is perhaps the first time that the other side of Abdul Hadi Awang is publicly discussed. The PAS president has often been perceived as a hard-headed leader who is totally uncompromising on the issue of the Islamic state.
Because of this dogmatic stand, he is viewed with suspicion and fear by a large section of non-Muslims in the country. That is why his repeated declaration on the discontinuation of talks on the so-called unity government is still being doubted; and many Malaysians continue to believe that he wants to be the PM if Pakatan Rakyat captures the federal government.
Until and unless he amends his ways and renounces this aspiration, he will remain the main impediment to Pakatan Rakyat's efforts to Putrajaya. Hadi Awang must realise that an "expired medicine" in its present form is irrelevant in post-308 (March 8, 2008) Malaysia.
Maggie Lim: I respect Dr Mohd Asri Zainul. People like him don't drive non-believers away. His sensibility gains non-believers' respect and want to know more about the religion.
The professionals or the Erdogans and Tok Guru should lead the team because they have more wisdom in leading Pakatan. They also understand that in order to gain respect, you need to respect others. The other faction is too extreme for comfort.
DohDoh: PAS has much to contribute towards making Pakatan a much stronger coalition. Its commitment and discipline are excellent examples for the other parties in Pakatan to emulate. But PAS must play as part of the team.
It must focus on the values it shares with DAP and PKR and not make statements that are seen to violate non-Muslims' way of life. It is on the platform of these shared values that there was such a big swing in votes in Pakatan's favour in the March 2008 GE. Many non-muslims were voting for PAS candidates for the first time.
PAS, remember, as long as you do not make statements that infringe on the way of life of non-muslims, you will have their votes. It is not unreasonable to speculate that PAS lost in Bagan Pinang so miserably because of the sale of beer issues and the Beyonce concert issue in Selangor.
Ong Guan Sin: The open debate in PAS is certainly commendable. However, I find some delegates' focusing on attacking Abdul Aziz personally as alarming. What Abdul Aziz Bari did was to bring out key issues threatening the party.
PAS members should focus on the issues, examine them closely, make their own judgement and deal with them accordingly. Personal attacks sound so... Umno, no?
PASSSSSSS: Hey Hadi, make up your mind and don't act like a person who has amnesia. If you want to talk about race, then Umno is the right party for you and you should not call yourself a religious man anymore.
Individuals who knows about religion will not bring up race issue and it seems you have not learn after your fiasco in Terengganu. Wake up man, and be a Malaysian rather than a Malay.
Gk: I still feel that there is something very wrong in the last PAS party election as the results do not jive with the ground sentiment, which are pro-Edrogan. Hadi and his so-called "problematic leaders" are clearly aware of the direction PAS should take and yet keep harping on the idea of "unity government".
Many people see these problematic leaders as moles planted by Umno, and the image is still there till now. They have to work hard to convince they are not Umno's moles in order to survive next general election.
The wisdom of Nik Aziz by suggesting EGM to rid of this problem is in fact, drawing a line in the sand between PAS and Hadi's group, and this bodes well for Pakatan Rakyat.
