KUALA LUMPUR: Despite Pas' attempts to portray itself as a party that welcomes people of all ethnicities, the party's top leadership continues to emphasise racial discord and division in their speeches.
DAP leader Hannah Yeoh said this had caused non-Malays to be worried about a Pas menteri besar in Selangor.
Speaking in an online forum organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), she said Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang's comments in his speeches would have scared the non-Malays.
Pas Youth Exco Nazrul Nazir, who attended the forum, clarified the matter, saying that it had long been friendly with other races and the image of them being only for Malays was one that was played up by others.
Yeoh, who is youth and sports minister, however refuted this, saying the situation was different during the leadership of the late Tan Sri Nik Aziz Nik Mat.
"If you want to know why people call Pas an extremist party, then you need to listen to your leader's (Hadi's) speeches. There are lots of comments he has made that will and have scared the non-Malays.
"It's in all the newspapers. It's been reported. When Nik Aziz was the leader of Pas, people weren't so scared, but lately, under the current leadership, non-Muslims are scared.
"That's why my comments the other day on Selangorians needing to be worried about a PAS menteri besar stemmed from this. People in Selangor are multi-racial and would likely choose someone from another party," the Malay Mail reported today.
Bersih chairman Thomas Fann and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) S. Arutchelvan also participated in the forum on the narrative used during the campaigning for the state elections where most of the topics seemed to revolve around the unity government and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.