PAS still has time to find its feet

By John Lee (The Malaysian Insider)

JUNE 19 — The spectre of a unity government between PAS and Barisan Nasional (or is it between Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan?) has the chattering classes all abuzz with the potential ramifications. I have heard a lot of talk about how PAS or PR could be imploding as we speak. However, I am optimistic that PAS and PR can weather this tempest and emerge the stronger for it.

For the individual leaders of PAS, a unity government may at first make sense politically. After all, it would enhance their power — there are surely a few plum Cabinet positions awaiting the PAS leadership should they decide to join BN. Even if you expand the issue to PR as a whole, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang would benefit greatly from the perks they would surely attain if they acceded to BN’s wishes.

But in the long run, these same leaders do not necessarily gain anything. Their power base in the grassroots would disintegrate as their disillusioned supporters abandoned ship. With nothing to offer, why would BN keep them on?

The reason I think PAS will eventually reject the idea of a unity government is the same reason why other PR leaders have not even considered the idea in the first place: it just makes no sense for them, even if they are entirely selfish and self-interested. The strength of PAS and PR is that they offer an alternative to BN. If they join BN, then their strength is gone.

Having said that, it does make sense for PAS to just pretend it is interested in joining BN. PAS needs to remind its partners in PR that their views count for something too, and that PKR and the DAP cannot simply ignore them. Overtures to BN keep the risk of PAS quitting PR ever-present in the minds of other PR parties and leaders.

This might seem messy and unseemly, but it is really the beauty of unhindered political competition and conversation. BN does not function as a true political coalition; it is more a vehicle for Umno than anything else. In PR, the three parties each count for something, and each can influence the ultimate course the coalition takes.

This does not sit well with many people, of course. We all want to ram our own views through because after all, we are all convinced that our views are the correct ones. But one of the most important things about democracy is that it protects the views and opinions of the minority — and a functional political body should give voice to the minority, just as it gives voice to the majority.

Right now, many are afraid of letting PAS put forth its more conservative ideas, such as the proposal to ban Sisters in Islam. But it is precisely because PAS notices this resistance to its ideas that its leaders have made overtures to BN. It is just basic political sense: if you cannot achieve your goals in PR, then you have nothing to lose from talking to BN. But these goals are not set in stone, and if we engage in a dialogue with PAS — which is exactly the purpose of a coalition like PR — we can help set the terms of engagement and debate.

I am not saying we need to accept wholeheartedly PAS’s conservative ideas, or that we should embrace them. But I am saying we should give them a fair hearing, and at least acknowledge that they have the right to put forth these views. More importantly, we must make PAS aware that it now not only represents the interests of the conservative Malay heartland, which has heretofore been its power base, but also the interests of the liberal urban areas. When PAS realises it is no longer just a regional party, but a national party representing the national interest, it will recognise that it has more to gain from moderating some of its extremist elements.

I think in the long run PAS will realise it needs a stronger Erdogan wing. The conservative fundamentalist wing is not going away any time soon, and you would be delusional to think PAS will walk away from its original ideals altogether. But as PAS builds upon its growing political success, it will realise that more and more of its representatives stand in constituencies where non-Muslim and liberal Muslim voters hold sway.

PAS is still adjusting to the new political complexities of a post-March 8 Malaysia — just as we all are. It has made a hash of things, no doubt, but I believe it still has plenty of room to make a comeback. The most important thing on its side is time. PAS still has two or three years to find its feet before another general election — by the next time we go to the polls, this will be ancient history. PAS and PR have time to make things work, and if they have the foresight which I think they possess, they will emerge from this present crisis stronger than ever.