Remember your faith and drop agenda to topple govt - Khairuddin

Remember your faith and drop agenda to topple govt - Khairuddin


INTERVIEW | Former PAS minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali advised parties with an agenda to overthrow the existing government to remember their religious teachings.

Calling for them to "return to faith", Khairuddin, who was once entrusted to be the secretary of the PAS Syura Ulama Council, said a person's appearance should not obscure the public's perception.

Without naming names, Khairuddin, who is now a member of Umno, said a pious appearance does not guarantee that a politician is able to curb his lust and greed for power.

"This politician has high ambitions... he wants to have power. The only thing that can stop him is faith, (i.e.) faith in Allah," he said.

He said that if a politician is not greedy for power, then there is no hidden agenda to overthrow the government.

"So the answer to (how to avoid) gluttony is faith," he said during a recent interview with Malaysiakini.

‘Move of the devil’

Khairuddin, 49, was previously one of the senior leaders in PAS who always stood out on various issues, even his fierceness sometimes invited polemics.

For example, when defending PAS' agenda, he once said he wanted to "smack the head" of Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.

However, the two then held a four-point meeting in Perlis and the issue was resolved amicably.

After the Pakatan Harapan government was overthrown in 2020, PAS nominated Khairuddin to be appointed as minister, and he subsequently became the minister of plantation industries and commodities for nearly 17 months under Muhyiddin Yassin's administration before being dropped due to a change of prime minister.

Recently, he garnered attention when he signalled that there was a plot by certain parties to overthrow the government, or at least organise certain individuals to lead the government party.

Touching on the gambit, he explained that a politician who loves religion and the people would not act in such a way.

But at the same time, Khairuddin explained the reality of it.

"As long as there is a devil, this 'move of the devil' will continue. (It) is a move that destroys the country," he said when asked if he expected such scheming to happen again after the 15th general election (GE15).

He was referring to the time the public was wondering about the legitimacy of the ‘London Move' rumours which were allegedly masterminded by certain leaders in Umno who were allied with Perikatan Nasional in the aforementioned city.

Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob recently denied that he was involved, saying he was not even in London where the alleged meeting took place.

Umno-PAS major clash

Khairuddin left PAS last March, a month after he was sacked from his post as the secretary of the ulama council.

His action was seen as a follow-up to his inclination towards PAS-Umno cooperation when the party was interested in working with Bersatu.

When he was with PAS, Khairuddin was one of the party leaders who were vocal in fighting for Muafakat Nasional, which is the political cooperation relationship between Umno and PAS that was forged after GE14.

At that time, Umno-BN and PAS were both in opposition.

When asked about former Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa's version of Muafakat Nasional, Khairuddin opined that it was not what he hoped for when the board was formed in early 2019.

For the record, Annuar’s Muafakat is declared as an NGO that is not involved in political movements but is ready to cooperate with all parties including the current coalition government.

At the same time, Khairuddin thinks Annuar has the right to lead Muafakat however he wants even though the original intent was to ease the long-time clash between PAS and Umno.

"The cure for the 'disease' of the Malay-Muslim divide was Muafakat, (with it) combining two parties - PAS and Umno - which had previously split due to politics.

"And this is not a theory because I witnessed the situation, a major clash between PAS and Umno," he said.

However, he was disappointed when the collaboration did not last long. In fact, he said the practice of attacking and mocking each other was repeated after GE15.