It’s back to square one for PAS

Najib had tried his best to persuade his component parties to give the Bill a chance. The perception was that he wanted to honour his gentleman’s agreement with Hadi.

Joceline Tan, The Star

A potential crisis in the ruling coalition has been averted with the Prime Minister’s decision not to take over the controversial PAS Private Member’s Bill.

THE Barisan Nasional meeting on Wednesday evening was possibly one of the most pivotal in the coalition’s history.

Had the meeting ended with the Government taking over the RUU355, the coalition could have shattered into pieces that very night.

But the spirit of consensus prevailed, Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak took in the views of his component party leaders and the coalition ended the evening in one piece.

The Government will not adopt Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s Private Member’s Bill. Hadi’s Bill will proceed as originally intended and its fate is now in the hands of the Dewan Rakyat Speaker.

A crisis had been averted.

Detractors of PAS have described the latest development as a slap in Hadi’s face. Yet, for the last two years, this man who is better known for his religious scholarship than his political acumen has had everyone howling and jumping like cats on a hot tin roof. It was as though he had thrown a firecracker at the feet of everyone.

The opinion out there is that Umno has played out PAS and that the romance between the two party presidents is over.

But political insiders said that Najib had tried his best to persuade his component parties to give the Bill a chance. The perception was that he wanted to honour his gentleman’s agreement with Hadi.

The Prime Minister had also held a meeting at his Putrajaya residence last week for the Attorney-General to explain the legalities of the Bill to the leaders of the Barisan component parties. They were not convinced and the outcome of that meeting was another big “No”.

“The PM is to be commended for upholding the spirit of Barisan. For us, it is not about numbers or how loud you can raise your voice. We express our differences, we come to one decision and everybody abides by it.

“That is the most important asset of the Barisan which other coalitions cannot replicate,” said MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The opposition spin is that the whole exercise has weakened Barisan, that Najib has done a U-turn.

“That’s absolute nonsense. The outcome has strengthened the image that this is a coalition of consensus and equals,” said Gerakan politician Ivanpal S. Grewal.

He said although some component parties were not as strong as they used to be and had not done well in the last two general elections, their views were given the same weight as parties which had done well.

“It was not about how many seats you won. When you sit at the table, everyone has one vote. It was a statesman-like decision on the part of the PM,” said Ivanpal.

The joke among Pakatan leaders is that the Amanah MPs are the most thankful that the Bill is not going further because PAS would have made sure that Amanah suffers for not supporting the Bill.

But where does the latest development leave PAS?

The Parliament lobby yesterday had that morning-after tension about it, an air that something critical had taken place the night before and which people have yet to come to terms with. Parliament reporters waylaid the MPs from PAS as they came through the entrance. Very few of them had much to say.

“I think they have yet to rearrange their footsteps, they’re not sure what’s next,” said a Pakatan Harapan MP.

Some PAS leaders now insist they were not keen on the Government taking over the Bill because they were worried that Umno would then claim credit for it.

“It’s back to square one. We will face it, we have the momentum,” said PAS communications director Roslan Shahir.

Lots of questions hang over the fate of the Bill.

Parliamentarians are expecting the Speaker to exercise his authority to move the Bill up to be heard, debated and recorded in the Hansard.

And that is where Hadi’s Bill will find its resting place.

At the same time, it has gone much further than expected. It is no secret that the Bill originated as a political strike at Amanah to show who is the real Islamic party. It was also to tell supporters that PAS is serious about its Islamic purpose.

Then Umno came into the picture and there was all that hand-holding and speaking alongside each other. It gave PAS hope that the Bill just might succeed but sent shivers down the spine of the non-Muslims. It opened the eyes of non-Muslims to what was possible if the two Muslim parties ganged up on issues.

The political ripples from Hadi’s Bill is a harbinger of what lies in the years ahead – religious issues, especially Islam, will continue to dominate and rattle national politics.
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/analysis/2017/03/31/its-back-to-square-one-for-pas-a-potential-crisis-in-the-ruling-coalition-has-been-averted-with-the/#9RolXgcVMEJOQTIS.99