PAS relents about Hudud without explaining why it was not done while in Pakatan Rakyat
Umar Mukhtar
Basically it broke up an opposition front and PAS lost some of its brightest minds. And basically it boils down to progressiveness versus conservativeness. And not to the quarrel about whether Hudud should be immediately implemented leading to Pakatan Rakyat break-up — a stupendous move that has the effect of granting Barisan Nasional a new lease of life.
And then suddenly PAS changes its obstinate Hudud stand without so much as a whimper. And then went on to partner a toddling party with over-the-hill personalities and hardly any members, supposedly as a third political front. Crazy or what?
If I were a fiction writer this would be a perfect story of a planted BN mole engineering top PAS leadership to neutralise an opposition front that is within a whisker of taking over the government. With pecuniary rewards to various individuals, of course!
PAS may have other reasons for all these ‘sandiwara‘ but it will be a long time until PAS is taken seriously again. PAS should never take its followers for granted. Don’t underestimate them.
One reason could be PAS wanted to get rid of progressives in the party who were poised to take over the leadership of the party; or just wanting not to partner DAP anymore. Just say so then, why this roundabout way of doing things when it is well within its rights to do so? Idiotic and erratic, to say the least.
So it can be confirmed now that if the present political scenario remains this lethargic, BN will retain power in PRU14. Unless Prime Minister Najib Razak is confronted with legal action, we are likely to be on the way to being a rouge nation. Not just for want of better politics but mostly for want of better opposition politicians.
The mystery of this flip-flopping attitude of PAS needs serious explanation. Not as to why this is not time for Hudud, we know all the arguments already, but the mystery of the timing of PAS changing its mind. PAS can afford to lose bright minds as if it is a party exclusively for the meek under the excuse of ‘wala‘.
Ikatan, PAS’s new partner, can claim that it is multi-racial much like PKR but unfortunately it is light years away. Without a Chinese-based party, the new front can never dream of national political resistance. With its taste for teething toddlers, don’t be surprised that soon they will invite Parti Cinta Malaysia as their Chinese partners.
PAS is a matured party with juvenile-like leadership, while Amanah is a juvenile party with a matured leadership. What a no-brainer for the Muslim who feels that an activistic party of the future like Amanah should be his choice for salvation. Amanah now has a new lease of life. It should show it can handle the overpowering DAP well, and it will be off to a dream start. Amanah can compromise appropriately whenever that merits, by all means. It is not a sign of weakness but a sign of measured wisdom.
What will be left of PAS? Probably as a warehouse of rural racists by default of social conditioning not intended. And PAS leaders are available for UMNO’s use anytime purportedly for the sake of racial and religious solidarity. It seems that that cooperation does not include solidarity against corruption and abuse of power in government.
