Battle over ‘souls’ of the people
(The Sun Daily) – Will PAS’s magic triumph again in the upcoming 13th general election which has been shaping up into a fierce “mother of all elections”? In 2004, it came close to losing it and the BN is sparing no efforts to capture it.
FOR much of its post-Merdeka history, Kelantan has been ruled by Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), so much so that it is not difficult for most people to fall in line with the quip, now being promoted as a battle cry, that Kelantan and PAS are synonymous.
It has been more so after the state leadership of the party passed to the religious ultra conservatives led by the charismatic Mentri Besar, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat. Everywhere in the state are posters of him supplicating to God to take care of his “people”, the Kelantanese.
The overall message of the battle cry and the supplication of Nik Aziz is “we don’t want outsiders.” It is only in Kelantan that an orang luar (outsider) son-in-law is not fully accepted but merely tolerated.
But the orang luar often meant here is Umno. The PAS-Umno rivalry has been intense and became more so after PAS formed the government in 1959.
It was only in the elections following several months of federal emergency rule that PAS lost Kelantan in 1978.
But an Umno breakaway group, calling itself Parti Semangat 46 and led by the man who helped Umno capture the state, joined forces with PAS to edge out the federal ruling party in 1990. When Semangat 46 left in 1996, PAS remained the dominant party in Kelantan until today and with the wily ulama at the helm.
Will PAS’s magic triumph again in the upcoming 13th general election which has been shaping up into a fierce “mother of all elections”? In 2004, it came close to losing it and the BN is sparing no efforts to capture it.
Umno, at the head of the BN coalition, is trying to win over voters to its side by promising to bring more infrastructure to Kelantan while PAS wants to preserve values which it thinks are good for the people of the state.
PAS too wants infrastructure for its people but lacks the means. But it is capitalising on such Islamic issues as the use of the term “Allah” in Malay language Bible and the implementation of thehudud.
To edge out PAS, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has pledged, among other things, seven major projects for Kelantan. These include:
the building of the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) urban campus for 5,000 students;
– 3,000 public housing and affordable homes;
– an iconic mosque costing RM50 million;
– a solution to Kelantan’s water woes;
– a modern public transport system for Kota Baru; and
– a state-of-the-art stadium for the state capital.
Kelantan has been raining projects. With the completion of the dual-lane bridge over Kelantan river linking Kota Baru to Pasir Mas, the prime minister now promised to build the much talked about but little done Kota Baru-Kuala Krai highway.
Construction of the 73km highway was planned during the Fifth Malaysia Plan at the end of the 1980s to alleviate heavy traffic during festive season. However, the project was cancelled after BN lost the state in 1990.
The project was later revived by the fifth prime minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, as one of the projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, but was cancelled again after the BN’s disastrous outing in 2008.
Meanwhile, the PAS state government, taking advantage of the federal government’s inability or unwillingness to build the highway, decided to embark on a populist scheme to construct the highway through public donations under the slogan of “if they don’t want to do it for us, we will do it ourselves.”
The project was inaugurated by Nik Aziz on May 28, 2012.
It is also seen as PAS’s way of mocking the BN government for its failure to keep its word. It is also a significant campaign weapon in its armoury to defend the state and to frustrate the BN’s efforts.
This time, the mother of all weapons is the petrol royalty issue. After much public debate, PAS expects the voters to know the issue and decide. To PAS, Kelantan would be more grateful for the RM12 billion oil royalty due rather than the seven promises made by the prime minister.
Kelantan is one of the five oil-producing states in Malaysia. In an agreement signed in 1975, Petronas agreed to a cash payment of 5% of the value of petroleum from the state.
However, the state government has been locked in a legal battle with Petronas for direct payment of oil royalties.
Currently, Kelantan’s share is funnelled to the state via different federal development projects.
Kelantan has seen a rather chequered history and much of it is caused by the tussle between PAS and Umno over the “souls” of the people of Kelantan. It will be interesting to see whether finally the Kota Baru-Kuala Krai highway gets to be built.
