PAS naïve and gullible on non-Muslim view of hudud

The only question that remains is whether Abdul Hadi Awang wants PAS to contest the next general election on its own.

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Kelantan Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah is naïve and gullible if he thinks that only DAP is against hudud and not non-Muslims in general.

Further, DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang wagers that PAS will lose nearly all its Parliament and State Assembly seats outside the northern belt in the peninsula. “This is over the hudud issue alone.”

PAS won 21 parliament seats in GE 2013, said Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP. “Seven of these seats were outside its northern strongholds of Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.”

“In the same election, PAS won 85 state seats, 29 of which were outside Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.”

Many non-Muslim voters were willing to give their support for PAS candidates in GE 2013 because of their desire to kick BN out of office, their trust in the promises of Pakatan Rakyat in the Common Policy Framework and the PR Manifesto, and the spirit of comradeship which existed among PR leaders, added Lim.

“With the tabling of the hudud amendment bill in Kelantan and most shockingly, the tabling of a Private Member’s Bill by PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang in the ongoing parliamentary session, it is fair to say that the non-Muslims’ trust in PAS has all but evaporated.”

What will be the likely effect of this on PAS in the next general elections assuming this trajectory does not change?

“It’s likely that PAS will lose somewhere between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of the non-Muslim support in the next general election assuming the continuation of the current trajectory.”

What will be the likely political impact?

“PAS will lose 7 parliament and 29 state seats if it loses 30 per cent of the non-Muslim vote under one scenario.”

PAS will be almost wiped out in Selangor, warned Lim. “It will lose all of its parliamentary seats in Selangor (Hulu Langat, Shah Alam, Kota Raja, Sepang) and 14 out of the 15 state seats in Selangor.”

“It will lose all 4 state seats in Johor. It will lose all 5 state seats in Perak. It will lose 2 out of 3 state seats in Pahang. It will lose 4 out of 9 state seats in Kedah.”

Under the same scenario, continued Lim, PAS will be left mostly with parliament and state seats in its northern strongholds.

In short, it will retain 14 parliament seats (9 in Kelantan, 4 in Terengganu and 1 in Perak). It will retain 54 state seats, 51 of which are in Kedah (5), Kelantan (32) and Terengganu (14) with only 3 state seats outside these states i.e. 1 in Pahang, 1 in Pulau Pinang and 1 in Selangor.

The damage has already been done by Hadi and Nik Amar.

Under a second scenario, said Lim, where PAS will lose 40 per cent of the non-Muslim vote, it will lose 8 parliament seats (including Parit Buntar in Perak) and a further 5 state seats (1 in Kedah, 1 in Kelantan, 1 in Terengganu, 1 in Pahang and 1 in Selangor). PAS would be left with 13 parliament seats (9 in Kelantan, 4 in Terengganu).

Does PAS want to go back to the situation in 2004 when it was left with only a handful of parliament and state seats in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu and lose the hard fought ground it has gained in Pulau Pinang, Perak, Selangor and Johor?

“The damage has already been done by Hadi and Nik Amar.”

The only question that remains, according to Lim, is whether Hadi wants to restore PAS’ reputation especially among the non-Muslims within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition or whether he wants PAS to contest the next general election on its own.