Little headway made in bid for Malay vote
(NST) The most recognisable figure in the party — Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat — has asked delegates to secure a bigger Malay vote bank and at the same time, reach out to the non-Malays.
Uppermost as it seeks to reassure the Malays, the party will have to expand its Malay constituency.
Pas loves to think that it is the alternative to Umno for the Malays although in reality, the Malays are also supporting Parti Keadilan Rakyat and to a lesser extent, the DAP.
Analysts familiar with Malay politics say Pas could be an alternative only if it is willing to replicate Umno’s role as a guardian of the Malays.
Professor Mohamed Mustafa Ishak of Universiti Utara Malaysia thinks Malay disenchantment with Pas in regard to Malay/Muslim issues is real and Pas will need to do a lot of convincing to win their hearts and minds, and gain their trust.
“As far as many Malays are concerned, Pas only wants to get the Malay vote but is not doing enough to fight for Malay/Muslim interests,”
“Without a strong case, it can only dream of getting the votes of those who support Umno,” he said.
Dr Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia is not too sure to what extent the party is willing to forgo the goals it set out to achieve, like the Islamic state and implementation of hudud.
Worse, Pas’ traditional supporters may even view the move to embrace non-Muslims, especially the promise of election candidacies, as too much of a concession.
The fight for the Malay vote has always been neck and neck between Umno and Pas; for five decades that Pas has vied for the vote with Umno, it has not been able to surpass Umno’s popularity among the Malays.
“Pas and Umno have their traditional support.
“Taking into account the voting trends in the 1999, 2004 and 2008 general elections, the two parties are actually fighting for a maximum of 10 per cent of the Malay vote.
“There was only a five per cent swing of Malay votes to Barisan Alternatif in 1999; when BN won big in 2004, there was a drop of five per cent in Malay votes for the opposition; this was reversed in 2008 when there was an increase of five per cent of the Malay vote,” he explained.
Even when the Malay vote was going against Umno in the aftermath of the sacking of former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Malay support did not markedly increase for Pas; many instead chose to support the then newly set-up Parti Keadilan Nasional, now PKR, or remained apolitical.
Neither did the Malay support shift significantly to Pas when Umno suffered historic setbacks in national and state elections in 2008.
In the number of parliamentary seats won in the last election, Pas, with 24, is far behind Umno’s 79, a testimony to the latter’s continuing favour among Malays.
The by-elections in Bukit Gantang, Manik Urai, Bagan Pinang and Hulu Selangor had also seen a slight increase in Malay votes for Umno.
While some Pas leaders admitted difficulty in getting the Malay vote, Nik Aziz, who is also the party’s spiritual leader, declared on Tuesday that Pas priority is to secure Malay support, since the Malays are right now BN’s base of support.
At the joint opening of the assemblies of the party’s three wings at Pusat Tarbiyah Islamiah Kelantan, Nik Aziz, the Kelantan menteri besar of two decades, placed high hopes in the three wings to set high targets for Malay/Muslim votes, focusing on the 110 Malay-majority parliamentary seats in the next general election.
Pas had since announced its plan to gain ground in Umno strongholds by contesting 40 parliamentary seats in rural areas in the next general election — especially those covering federal land schemes in Pahang, Johor, Perak and Terengganu.
Joining the call to attract Malay supporters, Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan, in his policy speech at the 51st Youth muktamar yesterday, wants party members to register as many as possible of the Malay voters among the 787,000 eligible who have yet to register.
It will interesting how Pas will manoeuvre its way to convince the Malays since it is committed to Pakatan’s multi-racial politics.
