After divisive meet, a wounded PAS at a crossroads

Zurairi AR and Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, Malay Mail Online

It was a fractured PAS that emerged from the party’s week-long 60th Muktamar as delegates returned home yesterday with more questions in mind over what the future of Malaysia’s oldest opposition party looks like.

Ever since its divisive internal polls last year, PAS has continued to be plagued by fierce divisions within its ranks as party progressives and conservatives bickered over which direction the party should take.

This year, all it took was one issue to bring everything back to a boil ― the Selangor mentri besar debacle.

Observers who expected another fiery meet were not disappointed. Leaders and delegates delivered fire and brimstone debates as the party’s once all-powerful clergy class fought hard to keep PAS true to its Islamic roots.

In response, their rival faction, the faction that believes the party’s loyalty to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) holds to the key to keeping PAS true to its original struggle, fought back twice as hard.

Some have said the voices of dissent among PAS’s fiercely loyal members point to a growing maturity within the party.

But others believe this could be the beginning of the end for a party once revered as an impenetrable fortress fiercely defended by members bound together by their common love for Islam.

Enemy number one: Mat Sabu

The number one victim during the near week-long muktamar was clearly deputy president Mohamad Sabu, who has been derided for his so-called open defiance of president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s decision in the Selangor crisis, and for daring to say the party’s powerful clergy class should keep up with the times.

Mohamad’s suggestion for PAS leaders to be more inclusive ― ala Indonesian president Joko Widodo ― was met with resistance by leaders such as Selangor executive councillor Sallehen Mukhyi and respected cleric Mokhtar Senik, who saw it as an insult to Abdul Hadi.

A number of Youth wing delegates even allegedly staged a walkout during Mohamad’s speech during the wing’s muktamar, a move which was subsequently scoffed at by their seniors as “immature”.

Mohamad ― known popularly as Mat Sabu ― however took the heat with calm and humour instead, carefully taking his time during his winding-up speech to explain points which he felt might have been lost on delegates.

“I don’t know how I suddenly became a target this muktamar around. But I feel happy when they spoke frankly in the muktamar hall, with their criticisms and suggestions.

“What I’m not happy about is them spray-painting my face on the banner. Why did you do that? The women’s wing would be upset,” he joked, in a reference to his supposed good looks.

Friendly fire

Harsher words, however, were reserved for others deemed as “betrayers” to the party, including the rogue duo assemblymen who supported PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s bid to be Selangor mentri besar, those who leaked confidential details from party meetings and communications, and members of the purportedly subversive Pertubuhan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (PasMa).

Calls of “munafik haraki” rang out repeatedly during debates, a term originally coined by the Ulama wing information chief Datuk Dr Khairuddin Aman Razali which roughly means “hypocrites of the movement” or those who move with the Islamic cause but who have sworn allegiance to others outside the cause.

“If you have ten bullets in your guns, nine of them should be directed to the munafik, and the remaining one for Umno,” Perak delegate Norazli Musa reportedly said during the Ulama wing’s muktamar, summing up their feelings towards the “hypocrites”.

It took cooler heads in the senior leadership to calm delegates down during their winding-up speeches, with most of them downplaying and lauding the butting of heads as healthy steps for the party to continue moving forwards.

“Direct your line of fire to your enemies, not your allies,” vice-president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man calmly pleaded.

“It’s not easy for us to produce leaders such as our deputy president and vice-presidents. Don’t ‘slaughter’ them without any concrete proof,” said secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali.

Challenge to status quo

Amid the bickering, there were, however, several brave delegates who went against the grain and planted the seeds for a more progressive PAS that would buck its perceived image of inertia and adherence to outdated conventions.

Among the most sober speakers were Norhayati Bidin from the party’s women’s wing who urged PAS to embrace the present and be ready to accept women leaders in its top leadership, which has been traditionally dominated by men.

“If there are women members with expertise, how far will their leadership be accepted? How many can be policy makers? Will they be given voices? Or will they forever be consigned to be eye candy and serving tea?” asked Norhayati.

Sepang MP Hanipa Maidin, who heads PAS’s legal and human rights bureau was unapologetic in his criticism of the party’s elite decision-making Syura Council, which he said has failed to interpret party constitution legally by depending solely on Islamic holy texts.

“We have no problem, even when there were personal attacks calling us ‘lawyers of hell’ or ‘drunken lawyers’,” said Hanipa, even as some in the crowd continued to abuse him for challenging the clergy class.

Like Hanipa, several other delegates including Perlis delegate Wan Kharizal Wan Khazim and Youth leader Mohd Sany Abdullah calmly faced jeers from the crow as they urged the party to keep its integrity and reject the Selangor mentri besar post should it be offered by the Sultan.

What will Abdul Hadi do next?

As delegates headed home in droves yesterday, questions in mind, one senior PAS leader said Abdul Hadi’s greatest challenge right now is to unify the different factions within the Islamist party.

This, he said, was crucial if the PAS president wants the party to get its affairs in order to avoid slipping back to its conservative roots.

“We cannot avoid the fact that there are differences of opinions. The challenge of the leadership is to keep these views within a general framework,” he told Malay Mail Online when met at the sidelines of the muktamar here.

The PAS leader, who sits on the party’s powerful central executive committee said that a disunited PAS with an insecure leadership will result in an endless internal power tussle and a party unable to focus on national issues, apart from its goal of defeating rivals Barisan Nasional (BN).

“The state of the leadership will affect how they view national policies,” he said, referring to the party’s grassroots members.

Even party information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar conceded yesterday that the party’s biggest task will be to polish its image, which has been tarnished by media reports of its irascible gathering.

Moving forward, another delegate suggested that the prolonged Selangor crisis, and the resulting wedge it has driven between PAS members, can easily be remedied with the retirement of veteran leaders who carry “too much baggage.”

He said that like Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Abdul Hadi has been in a position of power for “too long” when what the PAS president should be doing is to plan a proper succession plan for the near future.

“It is about planning a successful leadership transition…to let leaders from the middle tier step up,” added the PAS leader.