PAS youth wing’s “Say no to DAP” formal policy backfires; DAP boasts better track record

 

A MISSION statement is a concise, actionable summary of an organisation’s core purpose, values and goals, thus defining why it exists and what it does.

Sounding almost like a call to arms, the Sungai Buloh PAS Youth wing has boldly declared recently on its Facebook page – “Do NOT let this country be controlled by DAP”.

No facts, no reasons, no justifications – just a proclamation to prevent the DAP from coming to power.

Indeed, this isn’t surprising given that making DAP (and by extension the Chinese community) a constant bogeyman has been the Islamist party’s well-trodden path over the decades – the only exception being seven years when PAS and DAP were united in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition (April 1, 2008 to June 16, 2015).

The farce surrounding Kepala Batas MP Siti Mastura Muhammad is a prime example of such scare-mongering where she sought to link DAP leaders with communists and separatists.

Despite the courts having found Siti Mastura liable for defaming DAP leaders with her unfounded claims, PAS seems reluctant or unable to free itself from this brand of  politics where DAP is conveniently name-dropped for alarmist purposes as highlighted by its Sungai Buloh PAS Youth wing’s FB post.

The Sungai Buloh PAS Youth one-liner post has generated 2.7K likes, 1.9K comments and 54 shares at time of writing. However, this mission statement was met with a fair bit of pushback from Madani backers who were quick to highlight that the current administration was doing a good job.

One commenter mooted that “let it only be the northern and east coast states that exist as a reminder of PAS failures”.

In comparison, it was highlighted that the states under DAP rule were well administered and that Malay-Muslim citizens were well taken care, unlike those in PAS-controlled states.

In fact, the latter group has been subject to water woes as well as having to migrate to other states to find employment. “Better to be ruled by DAP than PAS” was the succinct observation of this commenter before adding that “PAS can get lost” for good measure.

Penang was highlighted as a prime example of a DAP success story where the islanders enjoyed a “harmonious and prosperous existence”.

Quite a few politically clued-in commenters opined that it would be ruinous for the nation if the walaun/tit (slang for ultra-conservative PAS members) fraternity whom he described as “riding on religion” were given the keys to Putrajaya.

Another Madani loyalist backed up this sentiment by calling the current opposition as “ego-ridden, ignorant and uncultured”, among other less-than-complementary labels.

The sheer hypocrisy of the FB proclamation was highlighted by several unimpressed commenters who reminded PAS supporters that once upon a time, the Islamist party was in cahoots with the DAP.

“If it was OK to support DAP then, why not now?” asked a bemused voter.

This inconsistency was also pounced upon by one seemingly confused commenter who asked about the status of other “kafir (infidel) parties” such as Gerakan within the opposition block.

“Islam has become a mere mask to gain support and votes of the Malays and the Muslims” was the damning verdict here.

It is, of course, only to be expected that PAS will continue to shout loudly “to undermine DAP which is fulfilling its entrusted duties by means of slandering”.

But unsubstantiated statements and hypocritical proclamations do little to convince an increasingly sophisticated electorate of PAS’s suitability to lead the nation. 

- focus malaysia