GEORGE TOWN: The time has come for Malaysians to stop taking the views of Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang seriously anymore.
DAP senior leader Dr P. Ramasamy said Abdul Hadi's statements, especially that against the DAP, does not make sense.
"Instead, it is more reflective of his extreme racial and religious views.
"While he (Abdul Hadi) is ever ready to pounce on the public statements and views of the DAP, but his silence on corruption and money laundering in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition is deafening to say the least," he said.
The Penang Deputy Chief Minister II said it was amusing to note the statement by Abdul Hadi, that even if the DAP appointed a Muslim chef, the party would never enter into its kitchen.
"Yet, he (Abdul Hadi) conveniently forgets, perhaps due to his lapses in his memory, between April 2008 and until June 2015, when Pakatan Rakyat (PR) existed, Pas had no problems in entering the kitchen of the DAP.
"At that time, it made no difference whether the chef was a Muslim or not.
"The chief architect of the animosity between DAP and Pas is none other than Abdul Hadi.
"If Pas spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the Tok Guru, was around, the animosity between the two parties would not have taken place," Ramasamy added.
Ramasamy noted that, in the past, Abdul Hadi had accused the DAP of being sympathetic to the now defunct Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).
More than this, he pointed out, Abdul Hadi had accused the DAP of supporting the idea of bringing back the ashes of deceased CPM leader, Chin Peng from Thailand.
Ramasamy said, Abdul Hadi, in his latest venomous diatribe against the DAP, was responding to the recent statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang that Umno could not strengthen its Malay support by returning to the principles of the Federal Constitution.
"He (Abdul Hadi) took umbrage to this statement by saying that the DAP is a cunning party that seeks to hide behind the Constitution to promote its secularist principles.
"This is despite the fact that Islam is the official religion of the federation," he said.