PAS replacing Umno? More like PAS becoming Umno!

Every position is determined through intrigue and opportunities for others to show their leadership no longer exist.

Rizuan Shamsudin, The Ant Daily

“PAS ganti Umno” (PAS replacing Umno) was the motto most widely used in banners during the 2013 general election. The motto was a reflection of PAS’ huge gains in the 2008 elections.

Many PAS veterans didn’t agree with the implications of the motto. They said that it was like an omen. Whatever wrongs Umno had committed would be emulated by PAS as its ‘successor’.

The PAS ulamas, however, did not take that into account and the cry of “PAS ganti Umno” kept on for five years. In 2014, the worst had happened. PAS has, slowly but surely, turned as bad as Umno.

In the Reformasi era of 1998, PAS used to talk about Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s dictatorship in Umno and implied that Mahathir would remain in power even in his deathbed. The Umno president, they said, would never be replaced no matter how weak his leadership nor how chaotic things got in the party.

They contrasted this with PAS’ ulama leadership that could change its president if they did not agree with the president’s direction. Some even used the replacement of Asri Muda as an example.

The PAS Youth went against Asri and he resigned in 1982 while Yusuf Rawa tendered his resignation after part of his keynote address during PAS’ 1986 muktamar was rejected. Yusuf Rawa subsequently retracted his resignation.

PAS prided itself as an Islamic democracy and claimed that a party that had proven itself through internal debates would not act unilaterally when it ruled. The party was even praised for its stand then.

PAS has unfortunately, regressed. It has followed Umno’s example by not wanting any contest for the presidency as the ulamas backing Datuk Seri Hadi Awang do their very best to ensure he remains unopposed. Even PAS’ new spiritual adviser Datuk Harun Din is seen supporting Hadi and defends the president from the pro-Pakatan Rakyat faction within the party.

This marks a total about-turn for PAS. It has turned from a party that practises Islamic democracy to an autocratic party worse than Umno itself. Umno had many ways to win back support when Mahathir willingly resigned in 2003 and was replaced by Pak Lah and his Islamic Hadhari.

PAS, on the other hand, has chosen to install Hadi as its one and only lifetime leader, unopposed and unchallenged.

There was a time when Umno internal politics was fodder for PAS due to its conflict and factionalism. Today, however, the PAS’ spiritual adviser’s appointment has become party gossip.

According to sources, the decision to appoint the spiritual adviser lay in the hands of 16 Syura council members who met on March 8. Yet it is unknown how many actually attended the meeting. Some claim that the quorum of eight members was not met as some members were elsewhere at the time.

The late announcement of the new spiritual adviser on March 12, four days after the meeting is also a point of contention. Was Harun’s appointment merely a strategy to stop PAS members from forcing Hadi to take the position and vacate the presidency?

This speculation has merit as Harun does not possess the political standing of the late Tuan Guru Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

Harun was once PAS’ vice president during the unity government of 1972–1978 who ‘left’ PAS when it was weak. He surfaced again at Anwar’s side and was also Pak Sheikh’s good friend. Before that, he was rumoured to be in league with Umno.

Is someone who has ‘crossed over’ in such a manner really qualified to be the spiritual leader of PAS?

If Haron’s appointment was merely a way for Hadi to avoid losing his presidency, it means PAS is no longer democratic and has shifted towards autocracy. Every position is determined through intrigue and opportunities for others to show their leadership no longer exist.

PAS may have condemned Umno claiming that Mahathir had gotten rid of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim because of the senior’s inability to debate with his then deputy, yet it, too, now is guilty of the same charge.

A committee is now investigating vice president Muhammad Sabu and PAS central committee member Dr Hatta Ramli for allegedly trying to dethrone the president during the upcoming June elections.

The establishment of the committee harkens back to the days of the Umayyah Caliphate when political enemies of the caliph were invited to the palace for a feast and put to death immediately afterwards, all in the name of religion.

The citizens’ uprising against such injustice in the name of Islam brought the downfall of the Umayyah Caliphate in Damascus and resulted in the founding of the Abbasiyah Caliphate in Baghdad.

There is nothing wrong with removing a party president nor vying for the post according to democracy. Only Umno deems it wrong to topple a president. That is why its presidency is never contested.

President Tunku Abdul Rahman was toppled by the ‘Young Turks’ movement and Mahathir. Tun Razak passed away while Tun Hussein was forced to resign by Mahathir. Pak Lah fell to Mahathir, who worked from the outside, and now Mahathir is in the process of getting rid of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Will PAS allow this to happen to its presidency? To take what rightfully belongs to its members and cede it to an individual or a group of ‘thinkers’ like the Syura Council?

PAS has often ridiculed Umno’s internal politicking come every general assembly, pointing out that dissatisfied factions would hire gangsters to attack their rivals.

Now it’s PAS turn.

There are allegations that gangsters set Dr Hatta’s car alight because he opposed the president and that they punched Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad in the face for criticising the ulamas.

What has happened to PAS? Umno has been in power for more than 55 years. It would make sense if the party has turned senile and gone crazy because of its ‘old’ age. They have grown fat and lazy with the riches of the country and it is unsurprising if they fell on each other in efforts to gain more. Umno is a secular party that has never placed any importance on religion and has never followed the path of Allah.

PAS is now the country’s laughing stock. It has yet to rule Malaysia, but it has started squabbling and fighting internally. To top it all off, this is a party filled with learned scholars, religious teachers and ulamas!

If they have deviated so far off course then how is the rakyat going to find any peace of mind? Islam is not bad but those who claim to defend it are failing in virtue.

It is sad but true. PAS has really become Umno.

Not from a political aspect because Umno remains firmly in control, but instead, because it has copied Umno’s bad behaviour and squandered the trust of the rakyat.