Bad news about Pas is good news for Umno
THE fight between rival factions in Pas has reached Manik Urai, where a by-election is due to be held on July 14.
By Zubaidah Abu Bakar (NST)
The public spat between the Islamist party's ulama and reformist factions threatens to affect the party's preparations to retain the Kelantan state seat.
It may be good news for Umno, though, and a chance for its new Kelantan chief, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, to justify his appointment as leader of the state party.
An Umno victory in the almost-exclusively Malay constituency, which Barisan Nasional won in 2004, could act as a launching pad for winning more seats in the state.
BN has six seats compared with Pas' 38 and Parti Keadilan Rakyat's one. Kelantan has been under Pas rule since 1990, with Pas holding on with a razor-thin majority after the 2004 general election.
Calls to ban certain personalities from campaigning in Manik Urai and the cold shoulder given to national leaders wanting to discuss preparations for the by-election with grassroots leaders have put Pas in a quandary.
The friction is due to individuals representing different camps in the party: the pro-ulama group keen on fostering ties with Umno and supportive of unity talks proposed by party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, and reformists who reject any collaboration with Umno.
Differences of opinion over talks with Umno took centre stage at the recently-concluded Pas muktamar, which failed to address the divide.
Even the party elections were a joust between the side supporting closer ties with Umno, led by Hadi, and those who back Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Explanations by party leaders and responses from Umno only caused disarray among Pas members and supporters, resulting in many wrongly concluding that unity talks and a unity government were the same thing.
Unity talks with Umno, as explained by Hadi at last year's party muktamar in Ipoh, did not imply an electoral pact.
They were merely muqabalah (discussions) on issues of common interest affecting Malays and Muslims.
Hadi had mooted the idea of a unity government in February as he was convinced that a more stable arrangement than the ruling BN was needed to run the country amid the ailing economy.
However, he later said that a unity government was no longer relevant after the prime minister's post passed from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
It was also reported that the director of the Manik Urai division's election machinery had refused to meet party secretary-general Datuk Mustaffa Ali, who is from the ulama group.
This has left party insiders wondering how party deputy president Nash-aruddin Mat Isa, who is the national election director and in the same group as Mustaffa, would handle this situation.
The Kelantan Pas Supporters Club, whose members are non-Muslims, called on pro-unity leaders to stay away from Manik Urai.
Its deputy president, Yap Kok Seng, believed their presence would "confuse" Pas supporters.
Some leaders feel that Pas and its allies in Pakatan Rakyat would have a better chance of focusing on the campaign without the pro-unity faction and they are asking Pas spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat to intervene.
Manik Urai, one of the four state seats in the Kuala Krai parliamentary constituency, has 12,293 registered voters. The by-election was called following the death of Ismail Yaacob, one of Pas' longest-serving elected representatives in Kelantan, of a heart attack on May 22.
