Will PAS turn blue?
By Wong Chin Huat, The Nut Graph
THE Kuala Terengganu by-election was a relief for many Pakatan Rakyat well-wishers. Not only did PAS win, it went all out to praise the DAP's contribution to the campaign despite the latter's failure to capture more Chinese Malaysian votes.
PAS's generosity is also notable given DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh's open threat to leave the opposition coalition should PAS insist on implementing hudud law.
The DAP has twice left multiethnic opposition coalitions (Gagasan Rakyat in 1995 and Barisan Alternatif in 2001), effectively ending them. So, the positive interaction between PAS and most DAP leaders seems to be an assurance that the Pakatan Rakyat will not be meeting a similar demise anytime soon.
Hence this is the best time for the Pakatan Rakyat, specifically PAS, to do some soul searching. If not, within months if not weeks, PAS and the DAP will trade barbs again — over alcohol, gambling, pop concerts, social ills, and gender relations. In this case, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) may again find itself caught in friendly fire.
Pro-Umno versus Erdogan?
Where should the analysis begin? Perhaps with a more nuanced understanding of PAS's factionalism.
Factionalism can differ in degree and form. Every party has factions, so there is nothing wrong or astonishing with PAS having them also. What may be wrong — or more precisely, misleading or inaccurate — is the labels that are being used. After March 2008, we were told that PAS has two factions, and it was a case of one naming the other with derogatory intent. The "progressives" labelled their opponents "pro-Umno", and the "pro-Umno" faction labelled the "progressives" the "Erdogans".
The pro-Umno faction wants a return to a more insular Malay-Muslim orientation, and is wary of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's multiethnic political agenda. This is the faction that attempted to negotiate with Umno, post-March 2008, on power-sharing, and comprises the dominant faction in Terengganu, and others like deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa and Selangor commissioner Datuk Hassan Mohd Ali.
The Erdogan faction, on the other hand, is aligned to Anwar and his new politics platform. They look up to Turkey's moderate Islamist Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a source of inspiration. Among them are the majority of the party's Kelantan leadership, and leaders from the west coast of the peninsula who won in mixed constituencies, such as Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, Khalid Samad and Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud.
But look back at the Kuala Terengganu by-election and the hudud controversy, and you will realise how misleading these labels are. In Kuala Terengganu, Umno was defeated by none other than the pro-Umno faction's candidate and core machinery. It is the pro-Umno faction that also praised the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat after the victory.
On the other hand, the hudud controversy was triggered not by the oft-perceived "hardline" pro-Umno faction, but by a top Erdoganite and media darling, vice-president Datuk Husam Musa.
