PAS has censured veterans NGO Patriot for stepping out of line in its criticism of party president Abdul Hadi Awang.

In a statement today, PAS secretary Iskandar Abdul Samad opined that Patriot president Mohamed Arshad Raji’s (photo, above) “angry” comments did not bode well with his former role as a brigadier-general in the army.

“The ridicule (of Hadi) was rude coming from a former high-ranking military officer. I am sure he was trained to be disciplined and well-mannered, but I see that he has lost those values,” he remarked.

Earlier today, Arshad had opposed Hadi’s view that any attempts of a no-confidence motion against new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin were akin to a no-confidence vote against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

For making that equation, Arshad said the PAS president was either a “simpleton” who failed to understand Malaysia’s constitutional monarchy system or an “unprincipled” leader who was trying to mislead the people for political expediency.

Two weeks ago, Muhyiddin took Bersatu out of the coalition and joined forces with opposition parties BN, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak. He claimed to command majority support in the Dewan Rakyat and was sworn in as the PM replacing Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had resigned.

Pakatan Harapan leaders are preparing to mount a confidence motion against Muhyiddin during the next Dewan Rakyat sitting in May.

Meanwhile, Iskandar questioned if Patriot had strayed from its non-confrontational and apolitical stance.

“Patriot should not get involved with politics and must abstain if they really want to unite Malaysians in harmony.

“Patriot says they aim to be non-confrontational, but their attacks of the PAS president invited confrontation from all PAS members,” he said.

Iskandar thus urged the NGO to reveal its “true purpose” and political allegiance to the public.