Sarawak Report, a news portal had alleged that PAS received RM 90 mil in bribes from Umno, in an attempt by the then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to court PAS and its support ahead of the last general election.
Instead of issuing their bare denial, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and other PAS leaders should offer their personal bank accounts held both locally and overseas to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to be scrutinised.
Now that PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has revealed that PAS had paid RM 1.4 million to the Sarawak Report editor, Claire Rewcastle-Brown, Hadi has only two options – either to drag Anwar to court or be exposed, when the time comes. Once exposed, PAS’ credibility as a political party would go to the dogs, as its present leadership has failed to uphold any good values.
Prior to Anwar’s revelation last night, the public already suspected that the money could not have gone directly into PAS official account; instead, it could have gone into the individual leaders’ personal accounts and that of their proxies, allowing them to lavish on expensive automobiles and big bungalows.
PAS should take the lead by providing a list of their assets including luxury cars owned by themselves and their family members to the MACC for scrutiny. They should be able to justify the sources of their income – something that should attract the attention of the Inland Revenue Board for now. If there is nothing to hide, they should have no issue to declare their assets.
The Islamic world was shocked recently to hear from PAS top leaders that it was acceptable to lie, even if it is told to its own grassroots. On record, they are perhaps the first and only political party in the world to practice the right to lie openly.
This makes us wonder if they would lie even in their declaration of assets. Each time a word is uttered by these PAS leaders, it would raise eyebrows. Not another lie again!