Sabah PAS man laments central leaders causing offence to East Malaysians

A Sabah PAS delegate appealed to his central party leaders to watch their words so as not to offend East Malaysians.

An apologetic Sabah PAS secretary Dr Aliakbar Gulasan (photo, above) said while certain statements may be acceptable in some states in Peninsular Malaysia, the same cannot be said about Sabah and Sarawak.

"We in Sabah and Sarawak face a multiracial society. Certain language may be appropriate in Terengganu, Kelantan or Kedah but they are very inappropriate for Sabah and Sarawak.

"They could incite sentiment and cause conflict; we (Sabah PAS) have to face them. I would like to emphasise this.

"I apologise (for raising this). Sometimes we may feel this is trivial, but it can be a major sentiment for communities on the ground which can cause PAS (in East Malaysia) to be sidelined," he said during the party's 66th Muktamar in Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan today.

Aliakbar did not elaborate in what way PAS central leaders had caused offence to East Malaysians, but PAS's religious scholar wing chief Nik Zawawi Nik Salleh had on Aug 26 claimed the Bible was "distorted" while debating in the Dewan Rakyat.

Nik Zawawi's statement courted a rebuke from the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS), but the PAS MP said they had "no right" to be offended and refused to apologise.

Police are now investigating him following a series of police reports.

PAS was also made to sit out of the Sabah election set for Sept 26 after PN did not allocate any seats to the party.

Jeffrey Kitingan, who leads Star, a component party in PN, had said this was due to "sentiment on the ground". Star is contesting eight seats in the state election.

A substantial Christian population resides in East Malaysia.

Aliakbar, in his speech at the muktamar, also addressed PAS' absence in the state election, maintaining that the Islamist party was not being sidelined.

"This does not mean PAS fears to face its enemies. We are absent from this state election because we celebrate consensus and hopefully PAS will be seen as a loyal partner," he said.

PAS had on its own contested 17 state seats in the 2018 general election but won nothing.

In the upcoming election, PAS is part of the PN coalition and had expressed interest in contesting 10 seats but was not assigned any. - Mkini

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