KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang today described former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as finally returning “to the fold of his struggles” after joining hands with Perikatan Nasional (PN) recently.

In a post comparing Dr Mahathir to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Abdul Hadi said it was not the first time the ex-PM has worked with PAS as he had done so in 1969 after he was expelled from Umno.

“A PAS member is a Malay that never forgets. In fact, Dr Mahathir was once on stage with PAS when he was sacked from Umno during the by-election of Kapar after the May 13 incident.

“Before that, he was with PAS to fight against the implementation of jus soli,” he said in a lengthy post.

Abdul Hadi was responding to media reports of Anwar saying Dr Mahathir’s presence on stage with PAS leaders was a sign of desperation and reminding PAS members that Dr Mahathir had been “very brutal” towards the party over the Memali incident.

On July 22, Dr Mahathir shared the stage with the top leadership of PN and made his debut appearance by giving a speech at a political rally in Kota Baru, Kelantan.

The 98-year-old former Langkawi MP has criticised PAS in the past, saying among other things that the party abused Islam to serve its political goals.

Abdul Hadi also said PAS embraced Dr Mahathir’s Malay Proclamation as it was a concept that needed the unity and leadership of the Malays since they were the original settlers of the Islamic faith here.

He said the movement also rejected cooperation with DAP and its allies, claiming they carried principles which threatened Islamic superiority which was clearly stated in the party’s constitution that formed the basis of their struggle.

“In Malaysia, it is a must for us to unite the Malays and Bumiputera that are now scattered,” he said.

Abdul Hadi then reminded Anwar that the latter was also part of Dr Mahathir’s government during the Memali incident.

“After he (Anwar) joined Umno and gave the face of Islam to Umno to counter PAS’ influences after losing Kelantan thereafter.

“With his mask of Islamisation, Anwar campaigned throughout the Islamic world and NGOs by branding PAS as an extremist party to kill its influences,” Abdul Hadi claimed.

He then went on to say Anwar would finally work together with DAP, before accusing Anwar of inserting his followers into Umno and breaking apart the party into a group that has deviated from the struggles of religion, race and country,

“The same fate almost befell PAS but we managed to eliminate the quarters attempting to betray the party.

“Now, he (Anwar) himself has revealed his role in undermining Islamic and Malay politics while strengthening DAP.

“When DAP places Anwar as their poster boy, that is evidence of said purpose,” Abdul Hadi said.