PAS and the Beast

These days class analysis is deemed passé. However, the idea that an Islamic political party is nothing other than a group of fanatics trying to retreat into the past lacks depth and seriousness. Such ideas are only for dumb asses who cannot be independent of the apron strings of the BBC and CNN.

By batsman 

For any real understanding of Malaysian politics, it is necessary to delve into the passé and try to identify which socio-economic class or political trend that PAS represents. The following is my attempt. 

When Oliver Cromwell rose in rebellion against the tyranny of the English King, he did so with great hesitation and only after much persuasion by his close friends. He did not even consider himself a revolutionary. He considered himself a loyal and faithful servant of God. 

Judging Cromwell’s beliefs according to the standards of today he will be seen as a raving religious fanatic. Even more than this, his conquest of Ireland can be seen as a terrible and bloody murder of the Irish whose faith unfortunately placed them as less than human beings in the eyes of Cromwell. 

Yet later academics in analyzing the English revolution placed Cromwell squarely as a representative of the nascent English capitalists and that the English civil war was actually a capitalist revolution. 

Looking at PAS today, lots of people get confused. They are unable to equate any party with a religious bent as having anything to do with capitalism. Using the education they get from the BBC and CNN, they can only relate parties with a religious bent with terrorism. 

In my view, I think PAS members themselves do not realize that they are part of a socio-economic political trend. They see themselves as a religious group of people just as Cromwell once did. 

PAS represents a group of people who no longer accept the modern world dominated by imperialism as a fate or future that they can live with. At the same time, it is a practical impossibility to go back to the past. They are a group of people on the verge of a new trend in world socio-economics. How consciously they grasp this fact depends on how much they can wrench themselves away from a largely complete orientation towards the past and replace it with a healthy part of forward looking challenge facing the future. 

The economic situation in Kelantan, the stronghold of PAS has after half a century of neglect by UMNO, come into its own. The roots of local industry and business are strong and relatively independent of domination by foreign capital, unlike the economics of UMNO which is almost wholly sold out to foreign capital and foreign investment. But just what sort of capitalist trend PAS leans towards is still anybody’s guess. 

PAS in my view represents 2 political trends – one a new but still weak local independent industry and business and the other a trend to escape into the past of Muslim glory. These 2 trends are not mutually exclusive but interdependent just as Cromwell’s capitalist streak depended much on his fervour as a religious man. 

The reason is simple. PAS, as was Cromwell, is on the verge of new socio-economic relations. New ways of doing things which reject the domination of foreign culture and economics of the imperialists need this mutual inter-dependence of industry, social values and religiosity. I believe the new socio-economic relations mentioned above is probably a creature none has seen before and it is created in the shadows of conditions of bureaucrat comprador state capitalism. 

Whether PAS succeeds or not is another matter. After all, the English parliamentarians saw fit to invite the son of the King that they beheaded to rule over them again after the great hullabaloo of the English civil war. It was as if nothing changed after all the slaughter and the misery, but was it really all for nothing? History says otherwise. 

In another case, the French revolutionaries, after great effort to get rid of their king and great slaughter not only of their feudal enemies but also of themselves could not but allow Napoleon Bonaparte to become emperor of France. History is not a smooth progression but full of fits and starts. 

I am sure PAS will have its Cromwells and Napoleons as well as new-style leaders who will lead the way to a new future. 

In the meantime, its ultimate fate depends on the balance and alignment of forces that are at play not only in Malaysia but in the world as well as on the skill and wisdom of PAS leaders. 

As far as the Beast is concerned, some in PAS may want to play masak-masak with it, but this is a dangerous game. The contentiousness of the issue within PAS itself is reflective of the fact that PAS members themselves may not realize they are on the verge of new socio-economic relations. This may be seen from the reaction of a majority of PAS members who will probably cringe at the thought they may harbour incipient capitalist tendencies. 

In the meantime, it is precisely this contention within PAS itself that is one of the engines that drive it. The trouble is engines can carry things forward or backward. 

The fact that some PAS members follow behind UMNO in demanding that 30% of the share of the economy be reserved for Malays is symptomatic of this confusion. 

PAS is a party of religious persons. It does have cause to take up economic issues, but taking up the cause of racial reservations of the economic pie has difficult conflicts with its religious mainstay. 

For one thing, not only Malays are Muslims, fighting for the cause of the Malays mean that Muslims of other races are shunted aside. Besides, it panders to the UMNO propaganda that only Malays are Muslims and only true Muslims are Malays. This betrays the very thought of decency. 

For another, the stock market comprises of companies that may deal in products or services that are non-halal. Do these companies figure in the calculations of the 30% reservation? If they do not, then 30% may actually be effectively 50% or 55% if Muslims are not allowed to hold shares in companies that trade in non-halal goods or activities. I think this is a road that only causes pain and confusion for PAS and does not do it any good. Worse, it places PAS as copycats who compromised great potential and an honourable destiny for a cheap popularity contest with the Beast. 

Besides, given the foul corruption and sinful nature of the Beast, I think it should be classified as non-halal too, don’t you think?