PAS-Umno Muzakarah: Storm brewing or just a show?

(Malaysian Digest) – Is there a storm brewing now that Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat has reiterated his stance that PAS should hold a muzakarah with Umno, and not with a non-governmental organization as announced by the Islamic party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang?

It has set the ground buzzing, as the latest in a series of Nik Aziz-Hadi disagreements set tongues wagging overtime on what it means for the party and the “hot and cold” relationship between the two.

Nik Aziz has, as far as speculations go, been more subservient to Anwar Ibrahim, the de facto leader of the strange bedfellows Opposition coalition called Pakatan Rakyat, while Hadi has been said to be more of a hardliner who stands his ground in setting up an Islamic state and way of life.

“Nik Aziz’s latest statement came as a surprise. What is the message PAS sending out? Instinctively, one would think that there is no consensus when it comes to certain issues, including on muzakarah with Umno. It certainly stoke up the fire that they can’t see eye-to-eye. Who has the last say?” asked a political observer.

The observer said on the issue of muzakarah, Nik Aziz seemed to have a better grasp of how such a talk with Umno would endear it to the Malays and Muslims.

“Even if it doesn’t work, what it does is that it sends out a clear message that PAS is open to the idea of enhancing Islam and the Malays. It may work well in areas where PAS candidates are vying for seats against non-Malay candidates.”

Another observer, however, felt that this could be read as a “threat” to Anwar and PKR that it needed to give PAS more say and not “lean towards accommodating DAP all the time”.

“I don’t think anything will come out of this. This Umno-PAS talk has been there for eons. It might just be a wayang kulit. There is, however, the possibility that PAS is sending out a message to DAP and PKR that it needs to be given more say.

“If you go by the riffs involving PAS and its PR partners, it has been mostly due to it having to accommodate to DAP’s wishes.”

During the course of PAS having been part of the Pakatan pact – the other two being Anwar’s party Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Chinese-dominated DAP – the Islamic party has had to backpedal to accommodate the liberal perception the Opposition pact tries to create.

Reports had suggested that PAS has had to sacrifice its traditional hardline mindset to accommodate the coalition’s wish to be retain the perception of a muhibbah pact.

The flip-flopping, however, has caused some riffs inside the party, with the hardliners obviously unhappy with PAS sacrificing its values to assist Pakatan in keeping afloat a liberal perception.

In Selangor, for example, PAS had to go through a much-publicized separation with one of its veteran leaders, Datuk Hassan Ali, who used to head the state’s Islamic Affairs, Malay Customs, Infrastructure and Public Amenities portfolio, until he was dismissed early this year.

His dismissal came after he went public with his unhappiness that the Islamic party had gone against its Islamic principles and tenets to accommodate the perception of liberal thinking.

His attacks came after Jais enforcement officers swooped in on a dinner function at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) late Wednesday night after receiving an unspecified complaint, bringing with them a team of policemen.

Instead of backing him up, PAS had distanced itself from Hassan’s stance, despite Hassan’s insistence that there were evidence that Christians were proselytizing Muslims.

The cracks, however, had started much earlier.

Hassan was said to have been unhappy whenthe state religious department’s decision to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages in Shah Alam was overturned after objections from mainly DAP, via fellow Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu.

The second episode involved a strange decision by the Subang Jaya City Council to impose a condition that the annual operating licenses of businesses selling alcoholic beverages would not be renewed if they employed Muslim workers.

Again, this was rescinded when DAP’s Teresa Kok stepped in.