New party must be for Muslims only, says Zaid Ibrahim

With talks heating up that a new political party might be formed by PAS leaders who lost in the party's recent elections, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim today weighed in on the issue, saying that any party must remain 'for Muslims only' first, because this will be the only chance for the new party to challenge PAS. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, June 27, 2015.With talk heating up that a new political party might be formed by PAS leaders who lost in the party's recent elections, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim today weighed in on the issue, saying that any party must remain "for Muslims only" first.

This is because this will be the only chance for the new party to challenge PAS, said the former Umno minister.

"Already they have no turban and skull cap in their daily attire; this will handicap them; so to bring non-Muslims in  will be added problems for the new party," he wrote in his blog today.

"It will be another PKR and disastrous for Mat Sabu and friends," he said, referring to PAS former deputy president Mohamd Sabu.

It has been widely speculated that PAS's progressive leaders – dubbed the G18 group – who lost in the Islamist party's internal polls earlier this month might set up a new party after the Hari Raya festivities with PAS faction Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera (PasMa) having declared that it would form a new party with the G18 in order to replace PAS in the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition.

Talks gained credence when some of the G18 leaders broke fast with DAP and PKR leaders earlier this week.

Pakatan was declared to have ended after PAS passed a resolution to cut ties with DAP in its Muktamar, where the top posts were swept by the party's conservatives.

The Islamist party, however, insisted that it remained with Pakatan, though DAP and PKR had declared that the pact no longer functioned formally.

Zaid said the new party would be a party of the future if it can be the face of “intellectual Islam” and not the present "holier-than-thou" version, fight for justice for all and can offer Malays a political Islam that rejects corruption and abuse of power.

"This is not easy to achieve though, because we have no intellectual traditions, and Muslims here only know Islam as the dos and don'ts. It's all about punishment. That’s why the ulamas  are pushing for hudud and other criminal laws. 

"The new group must, however, try to bring into public affairs a different  idea of Islam that is kind and forgiving," he said.

At the same time, the new party must be prepared for accusations that it is no more than the wing of DAP, pointing out this is a serious matter and the new party will have problems getting support from the Malay community if it appeared to be a DAP surrogate.

He also said the new party must be independent financially and intellectually, as well as ideologically  strong.

It would need an economic plan that supported the poor and fight for the underclass, as that is what Islam is all about, Zaid added.

"These objectives are not difficult to achieve because the new party will have some of the finest Malay-Muslim leaders available today, many who are hardy politicians and have unique strengths," he said, naming the PAS progressives leaders as examples.

"Together, they can give Umno and PAS ulama a run for their money any day," he said.

More importantly, he said the new party would be both a test and opportunity for Malays to decide what sort of future they wanted for themselves and the country.

He said if they opted for Umno, they would have to live with poor governance, abuse of power and never-ending financial scandals.

On the other hand, if the Malays opted for PAS, they will probably have more wannabe Taliban warriors, said Zaid, adding that this will not only be reflected in their dressing, but thinking as well.

These people, he pointed out, would be talking about God every day, but will do nothing godly in their actions and deeds.