PAS central committee member Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz said he wanted to protect his integrity as a member of the party committee, which led him to lie about a voice recording allegedly proving that the Islamist party had accepted funds from its former political rival, Umno.
Nik Abduh said his initial denial to being one of the voices featured in the incriminating clip was akin to a minister having to lie about secret issues discussed in cabinet meetings.
He later admitted to being the person heard in the audio clip.
“It’s not a matter of lying or not, but of wanting to protect the integrity of a member (of the PAS central committee).
“It’s the same with a government officer in a cabinet meeting. A journalist finds out, asks the minister. Of course, the minister is not going to answer (the truth),” he told The Malaysian Insight in an exclusive interview recently.
Nik Abduh reasoned that in such situations, a minister would likely feign ignorance “because it is still a secret, doesn’t need to be made public”.
“So is the act of keeping it a secret wrong? It’s not,” said the Bachok lawmaker.
Nik Abduh said while Islam forbids lying, there were exceptions to the rule.
“There is room in Islam to lie. It’s the same with envy which is a sin, but it’s not any more if our sense of envy towards the rich becomes a motivation for us to become rich.” ….
While initially affected by the attacks following the audio recording expose, Nik Abduh said he is intent on soldiering on.
“It’s easy for me when I know that those are lies, and so I’m not afraid. If we concede defeat, we will lose…
Nik Abduh said the party is now focused on ensuring that its grassroots are clear on the direction of the leadership, adding that PAS members have been reminded to channel their anger for Umno to Pakatan Harapan.
“Our advice to the people is, when you feel angry towards Umno, change it to PH.
One has to hope, given these confessions, that Nik Abduh gave chapter and verse to the MACC on the details of those secret money transfers he was referring to in that recorded meeting.
After all, he referred to at least 10 instances of UMNO handing money over to PAS and in terms of millions of ringgit. He now admits he then lied about it to help PAS president Hadi Awang, as he sought to sue Sarawak Report out of house and home for alerting Malaysians to that very matter.
That’s OK, Nik Abduh tells us, because lying is fine if it is in the right cause (his party’s and his own).
However, what is clear is whether or not Nik Abduh considers it a sin under his own interesting interpretation of his respected religion, it remains an earthly crime under present Malaysian law for one political party to secretly fund another, whilst deceptively pretending to voters they are in opposition, for the purpose of self-gratification, namely retaining/obtaining political power.
There is another issue, which relates to whether PAS declared the money and from where did UMNO get the money? Sarawak Report has information about at least three occasions where hefty sums of cash were lugged in bags from one party to representatives of the other. Where did the cash come from and exactly where did it all go?
Sarawak Report will not seek to comment on this politician’s strange and unusual interpretations of his religion and moral code, as one assumes that there are higher authorities within the faith he claims to belong to that can pass judgement on his excuses about lying and harbouring envious thoughts.
However, the earthly issues need addressing under the penal code and this party’s political supporters ought not to be treated like blind monkeys, expected to accept every convenient excuse and twist and turn of their leadership, as and when they get found out.