KUALA LUMPUR: An Umno leader hit out at a Pas official for quoting Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong when Perikatan Nasional (PN) lost the Mahkota by-election.
Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Puad Zarkashi said it was acceptable for Pas to reference communists, but not others.
"However, the interesting thing about the Pas information chief (Ahmad Fadhli Shaari) is that he uses the famous quote by Mao: 'We must have faith in the masses and we must have faith in the party.'
"It seems it's okay for Pas to use the ideas of a communist leader, but others cannot. They'd then be accused of being communists.
"It's similar to money politics. Others can't do it because it's corruption. But if Pas does it, it's called 'charity'," he said in a Facebook post.
Last month, PN filed a police report against Puad, claiming he had led Umno leaders to China for an educational visit.
Johor Bersatu liaison chairman Datuk Sahruddin Jamal had expressed concerns that communist ideology might spread among Umno members and at the Johor state assembly.
Puad had dismissed the claims.
He called out Pas on its silence after PN's "heavy defeat" in Mahkota on Sept 28 and claimed it had been embarrassed to speak out after also losing the Nenggiri by-election.
"The Pas information chief stated that there's no need to disclose the post-mortem results. But what's there to reveal? Pas never conducted a post-mortem.
"They see it as Bersatu's loss. Pas is washing its hands of it, afraid of being accused of meddling.
"In reality, Pas is embarrassed to comment because Bersatu might throw it back at them.
"In Nenggiri, Pas insisted that its member be Bersatu's candidate and that Bersatu use the Pas symbol. But Bersatu ended up losing badly."