By Nigel Aw
Malaysiakini
8:52AM Sep 28, 2014
Branded traitors by PAS, Selangor assemblypersons Saari Sungib and Hasnul Baharuddin who defied their party to stand with Pakatan Rakyat in the Selangor crisis received a heroes’ welcome from Chinese supporters at a DAP fundraising dinner last night.
The duo, who were seated beside DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, received a standing ovation from the largely Chinese audience as several DAP leaders described them as “saviours of Pakatan Rakyat”.
“Thank you Saari and Hasnul, that we still have a Pakatan government. You are not traitors, you are the rakyat’s heroes,” declared former Selangor exco Ronnie Liu at the 70-table dinner in Petaling Jaya last night.
Meanwhile, Bukit Gasing state assemblyperson R Rajiv said the duo’s move to sign statutory declarations with other PKR and DAP representatives in backing PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the menteri besar “shattered” any hopes of a PAS-Umno unity government.
“If not for the two of them, we would have seen a unity government between PAS and Umno. But because of their willingness to sacrifice, we have preserved Pakatan in Selangor under our new menteri besar Azmi Ali,” he said.
Damansara Utama state assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin too praised them for their courage, relating what Saari’s wife had told her as Saari prepared to declare that he would stand with Pakatan.
“She told me the pressure was like when Saari was about to be detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), but the pressure did not stop them from making this decision,” she said.
Lim, who later took the stage likewise heaped praise on the duo before inviting them onto the stage to address the excited audience while he continued to stand beside them as they spoke.
A smiling Saari began his speech by asking, “DAP okay? PKR okay?”
To which he received a loud “okay” from the crowd before asking in a hushed voice, “PAS okay?” to which he also received an equally loud, “Okay”.
Saari then related how he had struggled with fellow DAP leaders since the reformasi era, praising their consistency in fighting for democracy.
However, he lamented that the struggle for democracy sometimes faltered among his own party comrades.
‘Shed tears over bid with Umno’
“This was proven in 2008 in Selangor when DAP won 13 seats, PKR won 16 seats, PAS won 8 seats and BN won 20 seats.
“DAP and PKR were already holding meetings to plan (the new government), but I lost my own (then colleague) PAS commissioner Hasan Ali.
“We kept trying to find him but we could not. It turned out he was negotiating with Umno (to form the government),” he said as the crowd broke into laughter.
Saari said he was deeply disappointed at that time and had “shed tears” that his leaders thought that he, who had struggled since the reformasi era and detained under the ISA twice, would be willing to ally with arch-enemy Umno.
He added had PAS allied with Umno then, he would have quit the party to become an Independent, to which some in the crowd shouted, “Join DAP.” But Saari merely smiled.
Likewise, Saari said in the latest saga he and colleague Hasnul had stood with Pakatan without hesitation.
“Our decision was simple and straightforward, the muktamar had decided that we should stand with Pakatan. But unfortunately 13 of our other colleagues were not prepared to do so.
“Outsiders call us saviours, that it our contribution to save Pakatan in Selangor. But in our own party we are labelled as traitors.
“Are we traitors?” he said as the audience shouted back, “No, heroes!”
As a result of his decision, Saari said he received the highest ‘honour’ from his party that he described as Double B and Double D – Broker, Barua (lackey), Dicuri (stolen), Dibeli (bought over) – in reference to what PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang labelled the duo during the muktamar.
Saari however stressed he has received no reward for standing with Pakatan and had asked the new menteri besar not to include his name in the shortlist for any exco positions when the government was being formed.
‘Like child breaking law’
Meanwhile, Hasnul admitted that he was under tremendous pressure when he decided to side with Pakatan during the MB saga.
“My colleague (Damansara Utama state assemblyperson) Yeo Bee Yin said I looked scared when I entered the room (to declare support for Pakatan), like I had done something wrong to break the law, like how a child breaks the law.
“That was how scared (I felt), but I felt it was a sacrifice I had to do,” he said, adding that he hopes the Pakatan coalition will persevere.
Hasnul admitted that his actions means that he is unlikely to be allowed by PAS to contest in the next general election, but joked he could still contest under DAP.
“It’s dangerous for me to say like this,” he said laughingly. “No, what I meant is I do not care about my position.”
“But many of my friends in PAS thought if they did the same (to support Wan Azizah), they would not be nominated to contest in the next election,” he said.
Both PAS state assemblypersons when approached by journalists later stressed they will not quit PAS, and will leave their fate up to the party’s disciplinary committee.
Saari and Hasnul during the Selangor crisis acted as tie breakers after the duo joined 28 PKR and DAP state assemblypersons to back Wan Azizah.
PAS, which refused to make a decision at the time to back Wan Azizah as MB, had caused a stalemate as the 28 PKR and DAP representatives only made exactly half of the 56-member state assembly.
The crisis was triggered when Selangor menteri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim refused to step down from his position, after the party decided to replace him over increasing difficulty in working with him.