Selangor PAS said today it is “very confident” Datuk Hasan Ali will not leave the party despite increasing speculation the Selangor executive councillor will not be fielded in the next general election.
State chief Dr Abdul Rani Osman told The Malaysian Insider recent reports concerning the Gombak Setia assemblyman was “Umno’s trap”.
“But I am confident he will not be trapped by Umno’s dirty tactics. I am still very confident he will not leave PAS. He says he wants to fight for Islam. PAS also fights for Islam,” the Meru assemblyman said.
Dr Abdul Rani, who replaced Hasan (picture) as state chief after the PAS muktamar in June, said his predecessor was not greedy for position as “he offered me the Islamic affairs state executive council position in 2008.”
However, Dr Abdul Rani said if Hasan were to leave, it would be to his own loss, not the party’s.
“If he leaves, that is his right. The party constitution does not stop anyone but he will lose out. PAS has seen its president and deputy president leave to their own detriment. But PAS continued to grow and got stronger,” he added.
He also said he has appointed two representatives from the state leadership to meet with Hasan.
There has been recent speculation Hasan would be dropped as a candidate after he failed to get enough nominations from PAS members to defend his Gombak Setia state seat.
Umno newspapers have been giving wide coverage to Hasan and quoted him as saying that he was prepared to take up an offer from Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak to mediate in efforts to bring PAS and Umno together.
Hasan has denied that he would leave PAS despite saying his loyalties lay only with Allah.
PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali said yesterday Hasan and former deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa, also rumoured to be dropped as an election candidate, had been trapped in Umno’s agenda to weaken the party.
PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar also said Hasan was free to join Umno if he so desired.
