‘No need to go to such extremes’: Azalina tells Hadi to drop ‘Dajjal’ label in CSA criticism

Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, advised PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang to refrain from using the term "Dajjal" when criticizing the confidence and supply agreement (CSA) between Bersatu MPs and the government. "There are many other words one can use to express disagreement. There is no need to go to such extremes," she stated, after attending a forum on Asian insolvency reform.

The "Dajjal" is a figure in Islamic belief who will appear before the Day of Judgment and is considered a great deceiver. Hadi likened the CSA to the "Dajjal," raising concerns about the agreement's implications. Suhaimi Abdullah, a Langkawi MP and one of the six Bersatu MPs who signed the CSA, also denounced the comparison, stating that it was detrimental to national unity. He mentioned that his children had asked him about the Dajjal, expressing his uncertainty about its meaning.

Hadi's statement likened the CSA to a "Dajjal-like" situation, where power is no longer seen as a trust for the benefit of all but as a means to coerce others and maintain government control. The CSA, signed by Bersatu and party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, among others, grants access to constituency development funds to the signatories.

In return, the government pledges to make two reforms before the parliamentary term ends: limiting the prime minister's tenure and separating the roles of the attorney-general and public prosecutor.