Not easy to be rid of this thorn

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He may be perceived as a thorn in the flesh of the Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor, but getting rid of Datuk Dr Hasan Ali may not be easy as he represents the dominant conservative faction in PAS.

FOR Pakatan Rakyat leaders to ask their fellow ally, Selangor PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Ali, to be disciplined or sacked is a case of missing the forest for the trees.

Dr Hasan is a representative and leader of the dominant conservative stream in PAS and removing him would not resolve the issue because his sacking would not end PAS’ hardline policies; others like him are ready to fill the vacuum.

Without a doubt, Dr Hasan is a torchbearer for the conservative movement and that is something DAP and PKR have to come to terms with.

Awkward allies: A file picture showing (from left) Dr Hasan, Khalid and Selangor State Assembly Speaker Teng Chang Khim attending a meeting.

In calling for the sacking of the PAS strongman, they are actually dealing with PAS as a movement and not Dr Hasan as an individual.

Judging from the PAS Muktamar in May, which was organised by Dr Hasan, it was obvious that the conservatives dominate the party when moderates led by Datuk Husam Musa were not elected in the party polls.

It is clear that DAP and PKR, who are PAS’ allies in Pakatan, have no say on which PAS leaders they favour or reject as PAS, a monolithic party based on Islam, would have nothing of it.

Dr Hasan sees himself as the protector and defender of Islam in Selangor and to ask for his dismissal would not go down well with the party although moderates, including Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, have been openly critical of Dr Hasan.

Pakatan members see Dr Hasan as a potential liability and possibly a Trojan horse in helping Umno regain Selangor because of his background in the government and his outspoken ways.

Jeff Ooi, the DAP Jelutong MP and Chief-of-Staff to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, accused Dr Hassan of possibly working with Umno to wrest control of Selangor.

“Nobody will discount the possibility that Hasan will help Umno stage a Perak-like coup d’etat that Najib had openly called for,” Ooi had said.

It is an open secret that Dr Hasan and Umno leaders had met in the aftermath of the general election and Umno, which had won 20 seats, had offered to form a coalition government with PAS, which had won eight, giving Dr Hasan a chance to be Mentri Besar.

But such a move would possibly necessitate a re-election as the PKR had won 15 seats and the DAP, 13 seats.

The bad blood and suspicions between the Pakatan allies and Dr Hasan has since worsened and he is accused of being a “constant interference” in state decisions.

Among others, he was accused of promoting Islamic values, defending the predominantly Malay civil service and having his way on the appointment of senior civil servants.

“He is virtually behaving like the Umno Mentri Besar of Selangor with his constant disagreement with the state government’s decisions,” said a DAP state assemblyman.

“He openly voices his disagreements in the media.

“He refuses to agree to disagree and to toe the line,” he said, citing Dr Hasan’s attack on the Selangor state assembly’s Committee for Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) as an example.

Nevertheless, getting their way against Dr Hasan is easier said than done not only because PAS will not agree with it but the civil service – both state and federal – would be unhappy.

It is likely that PAS Selangor will walk out of the Selangor Pakatan government if the issue is pursued further as the DAP Darul Aman assemblyman Lee Guan Aik had done in Kedah recently.

An American-educated engineer, Dr Hasan enjoys a unique and special standing in the party, blending western experiences, a US-acquired PhD and long service in the government, before he entered politics.

The Gombak state assemblyman started as a district officer and rose to become the head of INTAN and deputy director of the Biro Tatanegara in the Prime Minister’s Department.

He is a PAS leader who knows the civil service inside out and he feels that his criticisms of the Selcat inquiry (into how District Officers spend public allocation) is justified because the inquiry has turned into a witch-hunt.

“The civil servants look up to him more than even Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim,” said an aide to Dr Hasan. “He strongly feels he has to speak up for them.”