KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said his party will not hesitate to pull its support for any political party that poses a threat to its Islamic principles.

He claimed PAS had always been steadfast in upholding its principles and would be open to working with any of its former foes as long as they were willing to change.

"If PAS is forced to veer from the path of Islam and its followers are threatened, then we will not hesitate to cut ties with those political parties. This has always been PAS’ stance and we have never strayed from it, despite other parties repeatedly contacting us, then severing ties with us after.

"We are, however, always open to change, and if our former opponents show us that they have the same approach and mindset as us, then we will be civil with them as that is one of the ways for us to introduce Islam to others,” Hadi said on Facebook today.

It appeared that Hadi was alluding to former political allies Umno who once stood with PAS under the Muafakat Nasional (MN) coalition.

Recently, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi chided Hadi by saying that PAS like it had in the past would eventually leave its current coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) and ally Bersatu.

Ahmad Zahid said that the Islamist party has a tendency to abandon partners every time it joins any political coalition, just like it did in MN, which united Umno and PAS.

He rejected PAS’ claim that Umno was sidelining Malay unity, saying this was a prime objective of his party but that it must also be compatible with the country’s diversity.

Ahmad Zahid further said that although Umno was part of a mixed coalition government, its core struggles remained, which is to empower the Malay community and uphold Islam.