What do they believe?
What Hadi, Nasharuddin and their ilk ought to remember is that PAS has had its biggest success when allied to the opposition. And they have had their greatest defeats when allied to UMNO. The last election was further proof of this.
Azmi Sharom
Now that the PAS Muktamar is over I am left with a feeling of distinct unease. Husam Musa’s loss to Nasharuddin Mat Isa in the competition for the Deputy President post means that along with the President Abdul Hadi Awang’s statements regarding a unity government with UMNO, the future of the Pakatan Rakyat looks a little shaky.
For what was probably the first time in Malaysian history, there appeared to be a real chance of a two party democracy with Barisan Nasional on one side and Pakatan Rakyat on the other. With the “manja” sounds that Hadi and Nasharuddin have been making towards UMNO, and the seeming support they have received from their party members, this hope for the beginnings of a more vital democracy in Malaysia, seems to be heading for some choppy waters.
Admittedly PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s vehement opposition to such considerations; the fact that the combined votes of Mohamad Sabu and Husam (both against any unity talks with UMNO) is greater than Nasharuddin’s; and the large numbers in the Central Committee of PAS who are also against such talks; means that it is not a foregone conclusion that this is the direction that PAS will take.
It ought to be remembered however that Nik Aziz’s clout in the party seems to be on the wane and whether one likes it or not, the President and Deputy President roles are very powerful and influential.
What Hadi, Nasharuddin and their ilk ought to remember is that PAS has had its biggest success when allied to the opposition. And they have had their greatest defeats when allied to UMNO. The last election was further proof of this.
What the last election also showed was the fact that non Muslims were willing to support PAS in droves. This is not because of some sudden love for the party’s Islamic state ideology. Neither was it on the basis that PAS was going to be a good and loving partner to UMNO.
On the contrary, it was due to the fact that as a coalition, PAS, PKR and DAP offered something which in the voting public’s eyes, UMNO and the Barisan could not. And that was a clean alternative which, even if it does not close the door on it completely, have decided to join forces under a non racial banner.
The numerous non Muslim PAS supporters clubs springing up like mushrooms all over the country give their support because of PAS’s willingness to work hand in hand in the Pakatan and not for any future cuddling up to UMNO.
It would seem absolutely foolhardy then for PAS to continue with this courtship. They risk losing the unprecedented support they have received from the traditionally non PAS supportering electorate and they risk jeopardising the fledgling Pakatan. Such a romance risks much more than any occasional rhetoric of creating an Islamic state with the implementation of hudud would.
What baffles me is the question “just what on earth does Hadi and Nashruddin hope to achieve with UMNO”? All this talk of the “good of the nation” smacks of Malay hegemony and this is exactly the kind of thing that has put off voters from Barisan and UMNO in the first place.
I cannot imagine what the lure could be. But then, I am a naïve fool who believes that a non racial Malaysia practicing a vibrant two party democracy is a good thing and should be fought for. I wonder what Hadi and Nasharuddin believe.
