What the PAS party elections means to me

This is how I interpret yesterday’s Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) party elections. Of course, it is still too early to bring out the wine, halal or otherwise -- as they say, we should not count our chickens before they hatch. However, from the number of eggs (and I counted at least a dozen), we can sort of already tell.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

1. PAS will move more towards the centre from presently the right.

2. DAP will reciprocate by also moving more towards the centre from presently the left.

3. PKR, which is presently in the 'centre' and used to play the very crucial ‘middleman’ role to balance the leftist and rightist parties (DAP and PAS respectively), will see its relevance much reduced.

4. DAP and PAS will build up a better working relationship through the new 'liberal' leaders.

5. Pakatan Rakyat would be less dependent on PKR and if anything were to happen to Anwar Ibrahim or PKR the opposition coalition would not suffer too much with PAS poised to take over the role of PKR as the ‘liberal Malay-based party’.

6. PAS, like DAP (and as DAP would wish), will focus less on theological issues as its party’s thrust and will instead concentrate on universal issues and the economic and social welfare of Malaysians (which was what the New Economic Policy or NEP was actually all about in the first place).

7. PAS will field non-Muslims in the coming general election while DAP will field Malay candidates as part of its ‘moving towards the centre’ exercise.

8. PAS will see a better balance between the perceived ‘ulamak’ and ‘secular’ leaders from what used to be a purely ulamak leadership.

9. Mat Sabu, the new number two in the party, who is seen as more ‘modern thinking’, will complement the number one, who is seen as more ‘old school’.

10. The non-Muslims will become more comfortable with the new PAS leadership line-up -- many who are seen as less ‘extreme’, ‘orthodox’ or ‘fundamental’.

11. It will be more difficult for Ummo to continue talking about ‘Malay unity’ and to entice PAS to work with Umno for the sake of the ‘Malay cause’ seeing that PAS will now be perceived as the ‘new and better Umno’.

12. PAS will be able to replace Umno as a ‘Malay party’ seeing that PAS is becoming more ‘Malay’ while at the same time retaining its ‘Islamic’ identity -- something which Umno would have a problem duplicating.

13. Liberal Malays who hang on to Umno and/or PKR as their hope for the future would begin to see PAS as a viable alternative.