PASâ€™s Penanti tantrum revisited

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On May 19, 2009

By Shanon Shah (The Nut Graph)

FOR a while there, PAS nearly gave Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) a scare for the upcoming Penanti by-election — the party's Permatang Pauh division wanted the seat for itself. In fact, newly elected Penang PAS Youth chief Yusni Mat Tiah even told the press there was the possibility that a PAS candidate could run as an independent.

This was despite none other than PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat previously warning the party to leave Penanti to PKR. A day later, on 6 May 2009, party election director Datuk Mustafa Ali said that PAS would not contest in Penanti "in the spirit of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition". A week later, Penang PAS deputy chief Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said that the party would fully back Dr Mansor Othman, PKR's candidate.

Crisis averted — or was it really? Some observers argue that the squabble over Penanti was symptomatic of escalating internal conflict between PAS's veteran ulama and its "liberals". The Permatang Pauh PAS division was apparently "fighting back against young liberals" in order to clip PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's wings. The "young liberals" are also known as the PAS professionals — aligned with Anwar; opposed to a unity government with the Barisan Nasional (BN); and protected by Nik Aziz.

PAS central working committee member and Kuala Selangor Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, however, denies this.

"What happened in Penanti was not a revolt against Tok Guru (Nik Aziz)'s leadership. It was completely unrelated," he tells The Nut Graph in a phone interview.

DAP MP for Bukit Bendera Liew Chin Tong agrees. He tells The Nut Graph: "In by-elections, people will use this opportunity to project what they feel should be their party's image.

"It's like what DAP did in the Bukit Selambau by-election also, when we said to PKR initially that we wanted to contest."

PAS treasure Dr Hatta Ramli echoes this sentiment. "The same PAS division also tried to stretch its luck in the 2008 Permatang Pauh by-election," he tells The Nut Graph.

In a phone interview, he says, "This is quite usual for Penang. It has nothing to do with the issue of the pro- or anti-unity government factions within PAS fighting."

Sidelined in Penang?

But if that is the case, why is it usual for PAS's Penang divisions to express such disgruntlement in the first place?

PAS central working committee member and Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud tells The Nut Graph: "What happened in Penanti was an expression of dissatisfaction by the PAS grassroots towards PKR.

"From the grassroots' feedback I've gathered, it appears as though they were unhappy with the performance of the previous PKR assembly[person] (Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin)."

Siti Mariah also says some of the grassroots felt that PAS was being sidelined in the Penang PR government.

"So they were just using this opportunity to express themselves. But now that they've expressed themselves, the matter is settled," she says. "The issue was escalated to Anwar and the Penang government leadership, and they've taken these grievances into account."