Unity talks – a pipe dream?

While PAS may have backed off from the proposed unity talks with Umno, some of its leaders will continue to harbour hopes of achieving the Islamist party’s vision through such union.

By Baradan Kuppusamy (The Star)

THE 16-month-old Pakatan Rakyat has survived its first “crisis of confidence” after a chaotic all-round row between rivals camps in PAS and between Pakatan allies over power-sharing talks with political rival Umno.

Feuding PAS leaders who had drawn swords and were going for the jugular have backed off, embraced each other and blame “miscommunication” for the embarrassing upheaval that saw the fragile Pakatan coalition nearly break up.

PAS was on the brink when nearly half of the 23 PAS MPs signed a document publicly supporting party spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat in their adamant opposition to the “unity talks.”

Pakatan allies, especially the DAP, that had poured oil on the fire, lambasting PAS for wanting to talk with Umno, have also backed off, sparing PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, the main force behind the power-sharing talks, public embarrassment.

PKR supremo Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the glue holding Pakatan together, expressed relief after chairing a two-hour meeting of the Pakatan leaders’ council in parliament on Monday.

“PAS is not leaving Pakatan,” he said in answer to a key question indicating that the worst-case scenario – a key Pakatan member quitting the three-party coalition – had been averted.

In ending the row, Anwar has once again showed how indispensable he is in keeping the fragile alliance together.

The incident also showed how easily Pakatan, which unlike the Bari­san is more like a friendly club, is rattled by external pressures and internal divisions within a member party.

The three allies have now sworn to be together and achieve Federal power together in the next general election, but the fundamental divisions within PAS and between the Islamist PAS and secular DAP remain unresolved.

“They have all just agreed to disagree and the main reason for this is the upcoming by-election,” said a political observer referring to the July 14 Manek Urai by-election, in which Umno and PAS will face off in a state constituency whose voters are 99% Malay.

“PAS will close ranks to win the seat but the division in the party over sharing power with Umno or staying with Pakatan has not ended,” the observer said.

The irony is, success is sparking the division in PAS and raising ambitions unnaturally.

After languishing for years in the Malay belt states of Terengganu and Kelantan, the party has expanded nationally and now dreams of heading a “kepimpinan Islam” in the country.

Some PAS leaders feel the party can better achieve that ambition by working with an Umno – a Malay and Muslim party — that is weakened by the electoral defeat of its allies in Barisan Nasional.

They feel that with Pakatan, they would have to bottle up their dream of an Islamic nation and defer to Anwar and his ambitions to be Prime Minister if Pakatan captures Federal power.

With the DAP, PAS has another problem in achieving its ambitions.

While the DAP actively helps PAS to win and consequently strengthens it politically, it also vociferously opposes the PAS dream in Pakatan and outside.

The DAP is walking a tightrope, on the one hand strengthening PAS and on the other, opposing its dream.

Under these circumstances, Umno looks attractive for some PAS leaders, especially when they see Umno as just another Malay and Muslim party like PAS.