PAS absence likely to cut votes
The residents of Permatang Pasir are a highly politicised community who have kept the seat in PAS hands through good and bad times. Yet, there was not a single PAS flag or banner in sight. Instead, banners professing support for hudud law and the PAS ulama leadership have sprung up at various places. They were clearly put up as a mark of protest over the DAP and PKR stand on hudud law.
Joceline Tan, The Star
BEAUTIFUL sunsets, scenic padi fields and a serene atmosphere – that is what the PAS heartland in Permatang Pauh is like.
The PAS stronghold known as Permatang Pasir has managed to preserve its idyllic lifestyle through the years. The folk here like it that way and they do not really care if outsiders think they have been left behind by progress and development.
PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu is from these parts. The mosque here was once the site of a controversial standoff between him and another politician, but accounts of the nature of the standoff vary because it happened so long ago.
But things are not supposed to be this quiet. There is a crucial by-election happening out there.
PKR president Datuk Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is battling to return to Parliament with a big win and the prestige of Pakatan Rakyat in Penang is at stake.
The residents of Permatang Pasir are a highly politicised community who have kept the seat in PAS hands through good and bad times. Yet, there was not a single PAS flag or banner in sight. Instead, banners professing support for hudud law and the PAS ulama leadership have sprung up at various places. They were clearly put up as a mark of protest over the DAP and PKR stand on hudud law.
Permatang Pasir, Penanti and Seberang Jaya make up the three state seats in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary area. PKR flags and banners and billboards are already up in Penanti and Seberang Jaya which are held by PKR.
The PAS machinery has not come alive for Dr Wan Azizah. The PAS ground is not moving even though party leaders say PAS will support PKR in the by-election.
It has been very confusing for everyone and there have been conflicting statements from PAS leaders almost every day.
The right hand says support but the left hand says boycott. The top says there is no need to apologise but those below are still demanding an apology.
The fallout from Dr Wan Azizah’s statement that her MPs would not vote for the PAS hudud Bills in Parliament is still playing out in these parts.
Although the PAS central leadership has decided that the party must support Dr Wan Azizah, a defiant Penang PAS Youth chief Yusni Mat Piah announced that the Youth wing machinery would not be activated for the by-election.
The Sinar Harian headline captured it well, Pemuda PAS bagi jentera cuti (PAS Youth gives machinery leave). The Youth chiefs of several other PAS divisions in Penang have come out to support Yusni.
The consequences of the PAS boycott cannot be under-estimated. The PAS grassroots are the ones who brave rain and shine to campaign and make up the numbers at political gatherings. There will be no oomph! without them.
This by-election is basically a battle for the Malay vote which makes up 70% of the total voters.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s standing among the Malays had slipped in the general election. He got only 48% of the Malay vote. As a result of the Malay vote being split down the middle, the non-Malays became the king-maker. Anwar’s big win was thanks to sweeping non-Malay support.
It will be a struggle for Dr Wan Azizah to match the previous margin of victory if the hardcore PAS supporters do not come out and vote. She might even garner a smaller share of the Malay vote than her husband.
Moreover, the Umno campaign line in the Malay kampung could damage her. It is asking Malay voters: How can you support someone who does not support the implementation of hudud?
But she can be confident that the PAS people will not vote for the Umno candidate Suhaimi Sabudin.
The impact of the Goods and Services Tax or GST issue is working in PKR’s favour but it is negated in Malay areas by the hudud law fallout. The GST hurts their pockets but hudud strikes at their core values.
Dr Wan Azizah will have to work hard to change Malay perception of her party’s stand on hudud law.
Her problem is that she only has Mat Sabu and a few ulama lightweights like Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof to defend her on the religious front. She badly needs the top ulama heavyweights in PAS to come out for her.
Unfortunately, the ulama big guns in PAS prefer to campaign in Rompin where PAS is going to lose rather than help PKR in a winnable seat.
