It is clear to everyone in Malaysia that PPBM or Bersatu needs PAS, not the other way round.

So, why is PN putting up a man whose name is still confusing to many Malaysians (Muhyiddin or Mahiaddin)?

Saya pun tak faham. So, in this article, I will do PAS members a favor by giving six reasons why Hadi Awang should be their prime minister candidate should PN win the election or have the larger MP numbers.

The first reason is, Hadi Awang seems to be in an attack mode after the dissolution of parliament.

First, he said the DAP is communist even though he himself probably does not understand the difference between an economic model and a political or religious ideology.

Democracy, socialism and communism are both economic and political ideas of organizing society and survival resources. There is no concept of divinity, afterlife, reincarnation or karma in communism.

Nevertheless, Hadi is banking on his Tok Guru aura of the infallible messiah for his members and ignorant Muslims to trust his ignorance.

The second reason is that recently Hadi claimed 100% credit for instigating the opposition ICERD issue and the Rome Statute uproar.

He went on to further claim that he was the mastermind of the Sheraton Move, thus absolving Azmin, Muhyiddin and Zuraida of that Great Sin.

Now, if this were true, and I doubt very much it is, then Hadi must be a master strategist fit to be a prime ministerial candidate.

Mahiaddin so far has done nothing to strike at the opposition except to shoot at his foot by declaring the economy a disaster under Ismail Sabri.

But that backfired badly when everyone knew who the PM before Ismail was and wasted a lot of money appointing special ‘ministers’ with nothing to do.

Furthermore, didn’t Ismail appoint Mahiaddin as some special function committee chair that has ministerial salaries to fix the economy?

The third reason is the use of the PAS logo for Bersatu candidates in Kelantan.

What’s the matter? Bersatu’s beautifully designed logo sudah tak laku or people do not recognize it? Are there places where PAS candidates need to use Bersatu’s logo? No? Then who is the stronger party here? Bersatu or PAS?

So, if PAS is stronger, why not lead the PN instead of becoming a humble servant to Bersatu? Yes, Bersatu was powerful once, when Mahiaddin was PM, but now everyone has no more YB before their names except Hadi who still carries his Tuan Guru title.

The fourth reason is that Bersatu has no grassroots supporters on the ground. Everyone knows that.

I have not seen my wife’s relatives croon over PPBM as they do with Umno. For many Malays, Umno is their lifeline of Melayu dulu, kini dan selamanya. Nobody is going to shout Pribumi dulu, kini dan selamanya!

The fifth reason is that everyone knows that there are three political parties that has a well-oiled election machinery. They are Umno, DAP and PAS.

Both PKR and Amanah depends on the DAP machinery. PAS and Umno do not depend on anyone but themselves.

Umno uses money and loyalty to ketuanan Melayu. PAS uses heaven as its exchange currency. Now, it also has money.

What does Bersatu have? Zero.

Now the final question is: will Bersatu members die for Mahiaddin? I don’t think so. But will PAS members die for Hadi Awang? Most definitely. They think that they would die the death of the shuhada or religious martyrdom.

Hadi Awang, rightly or wrongly, commands a religious following that no politician can rival. He is destined to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

At the height of the Reformasi movement, an international magazine showed a picture of Hadi and asks, will he be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia?

At that time Hadi was a pure Islamist fighting corruption, racism and extremism. Now Hadi is part of the whole things that he was fighting against.

Politically this has made him stronger. Spiritually, well…Allah will decide his fate.

Thus, in conclusion, to my mind, Hadi is a better candidate for Prime Minister than Mahiaddin, and Parti Islam SeMalaysia should lead the charge and have more seats in GE15.

Hadi for PM!

(Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at a local university and his writing reflects his own personal opinion entirely.)