PETALING JAYA: PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man says that one way of improving the image of Islam and to show a just leadership is for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to go on leave while 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investigations are ongoing.
“I suggest to Umno as a ruling government, to fulfil a few requirements as a first step to improving the image of Malaysia and Islam,” he said in a statement on Monday night.
Tuan Ibrahim’s first suggestion is for Umno president Najib to take leave until the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Auditor-General complete investigations and publish a report on 1MDB.
“This is important in order to restore the good name of the Umno president, Malaysia and Islam as the investigation must be seen to be fair,” he said.Another suggestion is the abolishment of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which Tuan Ibrahim claims are against Islam as the very poor are also taxed.
His fourth request is to decrease waste and abuse of Government funds and to take strict action based on recent audit reports.
Other suggestions were to lessen government spending, to investigate the Malaysian Islamic Economic Development Foundation (Yapeim), and to “return Kelantan’s oil royalty immediately”.
He explained that all the above can be carried out by Umno without the help of PAS as a means of showing the rakyat that Umno is serious in upholding Islam.
Tuan Ibrahim added that PAS would continue in its “dakwah” (preaching and Islamic education) efforts.
On Monday, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said that focus needs to be given on fixing the image of Islam.
He added that whoever made the first move in a possible political cooperation between Umno and PAS did not matter, as what was important was to focus on the teaching of Islam.
Hishammuddin, however, added that any political cooperation between the two was “not even close” to being confirmed.