THE PAS POLITICAL ENIGMA: CONFUSED MINDS OR COVERT CORRUPTION

The Quran says,

“And if God had so willed, He could surely have made mankind one community, but they will not cease to disagree” (11:118)

Aptly prescribed here that we are made of different people and communities and we shall not cease to differ among ourselves, but again the Quran alludes,

"And mankind is naught but a single nation." (2:213)

Diversity is acknowledged and racism plays no role in Islam. Islam teaches its followers to respect people of other faiths. It upholds a nation of people who are united and are tolerant of one another despite their inherent and acquired dissimilarities. It also unveils dovishness in the system of governance. Hence it’s the onus of political parties with any Islamic agenda to convince the masses with their proven record of leadership, benevolence and justice-for-all legal system. In the process though, they have to adhere to the conscience of tolerance, acceptance and moderation.

Regrettably, the fear of wars, atrocities, punishments and reprisals going on in many Muslim countries has given a bad image to the religion and Muslims in general. There seems to be paranoia for anything to do with Islam in many developed countries that many analysts have attributed this to radicalism and the failure of political Islam.

Conflicts among themselves

Going deliberately loggerheads with former allies DAP and PKR have shocked voters, triggering speculation of covert deals between the top Pas leadership and arch rival Umno

Looking at most failed Muslim countries it’s evident that there is no uniformity when it comes to laws and governance and what constitutes an Islamic state. They are mostly abortive in nature and in a massive divisive state. Clerics in each country have their own interpretations of Islam - the Quran and Hadith. Added to this are contradictory scholars’ decrees even when their versions of statehood are claimed to be based on the Quran and a corpus of authentic Hadith. It’s not the religion per se but human frailty – sectarian Islam - that has caused this malaise. Discernibly, these muddled-minded evangelists lack the political orientations that favour compromise to avoid conflicts among themselves.

When practice does not match preaching, we see gestures of rejection by the people in what has been discoursed. This is the unfortunate malady affecting some Muslim countries where intra-religious conflicts have led to sectarian wars, bloodshed and poverty. Malaysians in general fear that this drift could one day reach the shore of this country and affect their daily lives, and as a consequence they have recoiled themselves from agreeing to theocracy as the base for politicking.

PAS (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party) has not fallen into this abyss, but the party has to be more real-world minded to see the assemblage of the progressive factions of the party as a positive sign to salvage political Islam. Perhaps to PAS, the vision of an Islamic state and the purpose of its political authority are, among others, to implement the hudud – according to their understanding and interpretation of the sharia law. In other words, the ideal Islamic state to PAS is considered as a community or nation governed by the sharia law. PAS nevertheless has found it too taut to convince the masses on this issue. If they could have achieved it, then PAS would have met their goals long before this. After all Islamic political zeal had its roots embedded in Malaya since the early 20th century.

Islam to many progressive scholars, nevertheless, is more than hudud and this aspect of the religion PAS has failed to rationalise to the masses. Hudud itself has become a discursive issue in many progressive societies and by Muslim intellectuals that many have sought a moratorium on its implementation, yet this deportment of theirs has not made them lesser Muslim. PAS for that reason should know what to prioritise and not put the cart before the horse. What more when the nation is multi-racial and multi-religious and Muslims on their part are still beavering in the economic backwaters.

Not achieved much accomplishment

Pas president Hadi Awang has borne the brunt of blame for the party's fall from grace with supporters, especially the non-Malays. Many wonder if Hadi has been offered 'sweeteners' by Umno president Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has taken pains to woo him and shower him with undue attention and respect  given that Umno and Pas have been traditional political arch enemies

For the many past centuries, political theocracy has not achieved much accomplishment in almost all countries that had the vehemence for it. To the ordinary citizens, the function of any community or nation is to provide security and order so that they can carry out both their earthly duties in addition to their religious or moral onuses. There has to be tolerance, flexibility and compromise in regards to the system of governance and its establishment in a nation to cater for a divergent community.

PAS was originally part of UMNO but became a separate entity in 1955. In 1999 general elections the party was with the opposition coalition Barisan Alternatif, and was able to retain Kelantan and won a majority in the state of Terengganu and almost in Kedah. In the 2008 election, PAS was in turn part of an opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat and the coalition could even win a majority in five of the 13 Malaysian states. PAS had Kelantan, Kedah and Perak under its flag then. In the 2013 general elections the Pakatan coalition managed to retain Selangor and 15 state seats were won by PAS candidates with the support of non-Muslim voters. They also managed to secure 21 seats in the parliamentary election.

PAS had not triumphed significantly in terms of politics since Independence when they were on their own. They scored well in elections only when there was a combined force of parties with the support of non-Muslims in many states.

Of late, a PAS leader has been espousing political Islam as a replacement for systems of governance advocated by Karl Marx – a revolutionist socialist - and Adam Smith – the pioneer of political economy - claiming that these systems have failed the masses. But then to many Muslim intellectuals and thinkers - after seeing the tattered and disoriented versions of theocratic governance - they have formed a notion that political Islam in Muslim countries have also not proven to be a viable alternative. Today we see endless exodus of Muslims from failed Muslim states seeking refuge in non-Muslim counties – countries that still cherish democracy with their political economy. Even China - a Communist state - has now shown vigorous economic progress. Regrettably, many Muslim states have forlornly failed to recognise that idealism and practice are totally two different exemplars in the governance of a nation.

PAS has been struggling for over 60 futile years to capture the hearts of the Malays. PAS though made some impact in the local political scene twice when they were in coalitions with a few other parties. They won in Terengganu in 1998 and Kedah in 2013 but during their tenure in these two states the party did not live up to expectations and lost the both states after only one term in power.

Some PAS leaders could not see the reality in Malaysian politics. They seem to be too obsessed with fiery religious sermons and rhetoric but noticeably lack wisdom when it comes to overcoming the economic and social issues affecting the nation. To the ordinary people, to be able to put food on the table still matters to them. They want jobs, proper education and decent shelter. Of course they also want law and order in society – getting rid of crime, corruption, wastage and other social menace that are affecting the nation. PAS hence should instead reverse to its earlier agenda on promising a “welfare state” and “PAS for ALL” themes as promulgated in their party manifesto before the 13th general elections.

Support for PAS is just modest among the rural Malays

Pas' well-known green flag with white moon

The Malays for that matter are still Muslim with or without PAS. PAS today is in disarray all due to weak leadership and the lack of progressive visions among some of their conservative leaders. They have clerics as leaders who are too feeble-minded, emotional and conservative. They seem to know more about the oblivious than the obvious. These religious traditionalists can make some impact on the rural Malay populace with their sermons and promises, but not on the urban and the educated masses. Even in the rural areas support for PAS is just modest, so to say.

The progressive figures in PAS have left the party together with their supporters to form Parti Amanah Negara (PAN). PAS members are now juddered by this event and the party has become increasingly weedy. However, come the next general elections the party could still make some trifling impact in the east coast states of Peninsular Malaysia. But with events now unfolding within the party, PAS may even lose Kelantan in the next general elections.

PAS going on their own in the next general election will not favour the party. So, there can possibly be two choices now left for the party to make any significant political inroads. Firstly is to swallow their pride and join Umno – their sworn enemy for the past few decades – to satiate the aspirations of those Malay unity proponents, or become a component party of Barisan Nasional. Some PAS leaders in the past have vouched for a unity government so this marriage could be plausible.

Anyway, Umno is not all by itself. Umno is in Barisan Nasional - a multi-racial and multi-religious coalition. PAS has this thorny agenda – hudud and Islamic state to be implemented. This will become a tetchy issue for Barisan members. Umno for the sake of Malay unity might accept PAS but there is no assurance that there will be Malay unity even if PAS were to be allied with UMNO. The Malays are a politically divided lot having many other parties to fall on. Malay unity is not going to ensue even when PAS joins UMNO, as there will always be those who would support other political parties. Apparently race, religion and party are no more discrete synergies when it comes to Malaysian politics. This, in a way, bodes well for a multi=racial and multi-religious nation.

The other choice for PAS would be for the party to be in the new Pakatan coalition. But again hudud is also another cantankerous issue to DAP. With DAP balking at hudud and AMANAH being in the new Pakatan will make PAS cagey. DAP, PKR and PAN are all multi-racial parties. If, hudud or Islamic state were to matter most for PAS, then Umno would be its most ideal partner, as the latter is a majority Malay-Muslim party. This would mean Umno has to accept PAS at the expense of other non-Muslim component parties that are against the idea of implementing the sharia law.

Be it as it may, PAS is not really in a dilemma either. As the party president has supposedly mentioned that PAS’ struggle is not to win Putrajaya but for the “cause” of Islam - whatever he means by this. In other words they are prepared to be on their own, whatever the outcome.

See Islam from a broader perspective

Pas members

A sagacious move would be for PAS to take a cue from some of the progressive-minded Muslims and put the hudud agenda aside and see Islam from a broader perspective – as a tolerant, non-discriminatory religion that guarantees justice to all and sundry irrespective of race or religion. They can then amicably work with the Pakatan or Barisan to form a formidable league.

If PAS is adamant that they would want to be on their own with their own exclusive agenda then they have to be prepared to face uncertainties in the next general election. It would be propitious if they could retain many seats with their present echelon of leaders but political analysts envisage that they would end up being despondent in almost all states where non-Muslims and urban Muslims are decisive voters.

The best option for PAS would still be for the party joining hands with Pakatan or else just shift their gear and move on to Umno. - MAILBAG