They said PAS central committee member Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz was displaying his insensitivity and lack of leadership skills when he implied that the White Flag Campaign was for weak people with a defeatist attitude.
The campaign, initiated by netizens, calls for the raising of a white flag from the home of anyone needing immediate help, particularly in terms of food.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Nik Abduh said: “Raise your hands in prayer to God. That is the flag of strength and optimism in the test of life. Don’t admit defeat when being tested.”
Universiti Malaya lecturer Awang Azman Pawi called it a “weird” reaction, saying he failed to understand why PAS would not support the flag campaign and why Nik Abduh could not see the difference between a prayer as an “internal call” and the campaign as an “external call” for assistance in troubled times.
“It’s a call for food assistance,” he told FMT.
Former academic Azmi Hassan said PAS leaders “should have the common decency” to say the right thing about a campaign meant to help people in distress.
Both Azmi and Awang Azman questioned the quality of leadership in PAS, particularly in its role as a member of the Putrajaya administration.
Azmi said it appeared that PAS did not even have “the basic knowledge” to run the country.
He said many people were sceptical of the party’s abilities when it decided to be part of the ruling government and the sceptics had been proven right.
“PAS leaders have been making too many blunders. Their decisions are sometimes shallow and do not have any justification,” he said.
Two days ago, PAS member Takiyuddin Hassan, who serves as law minister, said the Dewan Rakyat could sit only after the state of emergency ends despite an earlier statement from Istana Negara that Parliament could be convened during the Emergency.
Azmi said this was just one example of a PAS leader’s failure to do his homework before commenting on an issue.
Awang Azman said PAS had yet to show that it could offer solutions to social problems now emerging as a result of people’s loss of income. He gave the example of indebtedness to loan sharks, which he said was becoming a major issue, affecting more and more people.
“PAS should come up with solutions to such problems,” he said.