PAS did not need critics to expose its internal problems. Its own president, Abdul Hadi Awang, has now done so in public and in detail.

In an open letter to PAS members in Perlis, Hadi listed a series of behaviours that reveal deep moral and political decay within the party. Among them were members openly demanding positions, engaging in unethical lobbying, disrespecting party leadership, sabotaging their own state government, and betraying the party by handing power to political rivals.

He criticised party members who, in his words, “put themselves forward as the most deserving of positions but were not appointed,” a trait he said disqualified them from leadership.

He also referred to reports of “unethical lobbying in general meetings” which had damaged PAS internally and contributed to efforts to bring down a PAS-led state government.

These are not minor disciplinary issues. They describe a party consumed by ambition, infighting, and power struggles, traits PAS has long accused others of while claiming moral and religious superiority.

What is most striking is how Hadi frames the solution. The problem, in his view, is not weak governance, poor leadership, or lack of accountability. It is disobedience. He stressed that leaders appointed by the PAS central leadership “must be obeyed,” even if they are flawed, unless they order clear wrongdoing.

He concluded that the Perlis crisis occurred because certain members showed “no loyalty to the party and no obedience to leaders appointed by the PAS central leadership without valid reason.”

This exposes a deeper flaw in PAS’s ideology. Obedience is prioritised over ethics, conformity over conscience, and loyalty to individuals over responsibility to the public. Dissent is treated as betrayal rather than a necessary part of democratic governance.

The Perlis crisis also shatters the image of PAS as a party guided by higher principles. Hadi himself warned that internal division had occurred because “some among you desire worldly gains, while others desire the hereafter,” revealing ambition and self-interest within the party. His words show PAS suffers from the same vices as any other political party, ambition, factionalism, and betrayal, only wrapped in religious justification.

Instead of acknowledging the need for reform, PAS responds by demanding greater obedience. That is not moral leadership. It is a call for submission. And it is a warning to Malaysians about the kind of politics PAS represents.

By: Mirza Mohd
This is a reader letter by Mirza Mohd. This writing does not necessarily reflect the position of DeKapital.