Mat Sabu is Good for the Opposition
Zaid Untuk Rakyat
I was so relieved and glad to know that Mohamad Sabu (Mat Sabu as he is affectionately known) has won the Deputy Presidency of PAS at the recently concluded Muktamar or General Assembly.
For many years, the Opposition has been led, by default, by the weakest and the most problematic of leaders—Anwar Ibrahim. There is good reason to believe that after the next general election, Mat Sabu will assume Anwar’s position as Leader of the Opposition. This is good news.
PAS is the biggest Malay party after UMNO and, as such, it plays a natural leadership role in the parliamentary opposition. It has strong and loyal support from within its ranks. Its influence in rural Malay constituencies is clear for all to see. DAP does not have enough popular appeal to play a uniting role in today’s fractious politics, and I believe the leaders of DAP know this.
Unfortunately, however, PAS has largely been led and controlled by ulama. The political ulama in Malaysia are conservatives and traditionalists without wide appeal. Their pronouncements have divided the country in the past. Their positions are unlike those of the ulama in Indonesia, such as the late Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), who are reformers, modernists and believers in peace and interfaith dialogue.
In Malaysia, the ulama are generally seen to be too conservative and not sufficiently appealing to non-Muslims and, indeed, even middle-class urban Malays. So, while Tok Guru Hadi Awang is still the President of PAS , Mat Sabu and his friends now control the Central Committee and will provide the balance that will bring PAS to a more even keel. Mat Sabu and his allies have their fingers on the pulse of modern Malaysia.
