Recently, PAS supremo Abdul Hadi Awang claimed that his party leaders were offered assistance by a foreign power to topple and take over the government during former US president Barack Obama’s visit to Malaysia in 2014.
According to him, several of his party leaders, including the then assistant secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan and his then political secretary Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, had been invited to the US Embassy while PAS was still part of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
Hadi said the embassy representatives discussed the possibility of helping PAS topple and take over the government, but party leaders rejected foreign interference.
Meanwhile, Takiyuddin, who attended the meeting, said that the embassy representative asked whether PAS planned to topple the Barisan Nasional (BN) government—then led by Najib Razak—but the party took no action because it did not want foreign countries interfering in the country’s affairs.
The United States, however, immediately rejected the PAS president’s claim that Washington had offered to help topple Malaysia’s government, saying it had never sought to decide the country’s political leadership.
A senior official at the US Embassy in Malaysia further confirmed that any suggestion that the United States had sought to determine Malaysia’s political leadership was untrue.
As expected, Hadi’s explosive revelation has sparked a fresh controversy in the country while raising some serious concerns. Not only that, the timing of the PAS leader’s latest bombshell has also raised eyebrows.
So what exactly transpired?
Surely, the first question on most people's minds has to be this: why is such highly sensitive and sensational news exposed only now after almost twelve long years—and at the PAS Muktamar, at that, where a nationwide coverage is guaranteed?
Was it designed as a dramatic and strategic move to galvanize party members?
With GE16 creeping closer, it seems like a signal to the grassroots and potential voters that PAS is a party of integrity that truly upholds the country's sovereignty.
Maybe it was also to rouse its base against a hated “enemy” while trying to reaffirm the party’s position as the protector of religion and the ultimate hero of the rakyat against the hegemonic West?
Interestingly, some might contend that the ever-shrewd Hadi was trying to “pitch” to UMNO leaders and their supporters that PAS has always been loyal to them—more so given its renewed political collaboration with the resurgent nationalist party.
Furthermore, isn't the Melaka state election also expected to be called anytime soon?
Meanwhile, some critics may claim that it could be a calculated move to distance the Islamist party from its former coalition partners in Pakatan Rakyat, especially DAP, while portraying itself as a staunchly patriotic party that will never bow to foreign powers.
Or perhaps the PAS leader was reinforcing his own leadership credentials as a fearless and unyielding national figure?
After all, surely Hadi is aware that his party supporters, especially its pliant grassroots, are bound to believe anything uttered by its revered top leaders.
But then to be fair, could it also be that he simply misunderstood or misinterpreted the conversation with US officials? Truth be told, it ain't easy to comprehend a typical American accent. A classic case of lost in translation?
There is also the possibility that the meeting at the US Embassy was merely to garner feedback from a friendly nation regarding its future political trajectory to be used strictly for its own consumption.
Moreover, it must be noted that while Hadi boldly claimed that an offer of assistance was extended, Takiyuddin's account seems more mellowed where he hinted that the embassy merely asked if PAS planned to bring down the BN government.
So to recap, is the revelation real, or is it just a clever political manoeuvre to burnish PAS’ reputation as a party ready to assume leadership of the country?
Still, the burning question remains: why did Hadi and his party leaders keep the matter under wraps for so long when it involved sensitive security matters where a foreign country allegedly tried to meddle in a sovereign nation's internal affairs?
Having said that, it might sound a bit far-fetched to some, that a western super power can be so naive as to offer help to a fundamentalist Islamist party to overthrow a democratic government that was on friendly terms with it.
What is even harder to digest is that it was Najib's BN government that the US was allegedly offering to topple when the then-prime minister was a good friend of President Barack Obama. Didn't the two “buddies” even have a jolly good time playing golf together in Hawaii that same year?
(Screenshot of news headline and image from Yahoo News/Malaysian Insider)
The thing is, since the US Embassy has already strongly denied such an incident, is it not incumbent upon the PAS leaders who attended the meeting to come forward and clarify the truth?
But then again, as some skeptical observers may ask: knowing the US well, would it have made any strategic sense at all for them to back what some refer to as a hardline Islamist party to take over a relatively peaceful multiracial country?
Main information source: The Malay Mail.
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