PAS–The UMNO Sucker and Ultimate Loser Always

by Cmdr (rtd) S. Thayaparan

  “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” ― C.S. Lewis (The Problem of Pain)  

The affable Deputy President of PAS Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Mandeclared that PAS was ready to forget “ancient history” if its opponents were ready to uphold Islamic principles. This, of course, is the problem with most fundamentalists Muslims or religionists of any flavor; they are always interested in ignoring, forgetting and distorting history in favor of furthering their detrimental agendas.

Of course, another interesting dimension of this rather self-serving rejoinder is that, who exactly are the “opponents” in this equation? The DAP have been vociferous in their objection to the betrayal of PAS – even though  many others (including pro UMNO pundits) and I have always been dismissive of the overly enthusiastic political maneuverings of the DAP and its evangelical wing when it came to the Islamic Party and is deep commitment to upsetting the various social contracts formed over the decades.

Pinkie PAS Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man

The DAP is against whatever “Islamic principles” PAS has to offer and rightly so. For a party that could not even maintain the straightforward middle ground of Malaysian politics in its fervor to inflict its brand of Islamism on Malaysia, the consequence of further political interaction would be disastrous.

The only reason PAS has enjoyed a political resurgence is because of its affiliation with the former Pakatan Rakyat. Their resurgence is not based on any cultural or social shift but rather the compromises made in joining mainstream Malaysian politics. And PAS was not the unwanted step child that it makes itself out to be but rather contributed valuable logistical and public relations support to a newly resurgent opposition pact that greatly benefited from its politics of inclusion, somewhat flawed it may have been.

PKR of course benefited the most for this relationship. While the DAP as history will show managed to cull the moderates from PAS, thereby enabling a truly moderate (relative) fledgling Islamic party – Amanah – PKR with it deep roots in both UMNO and PAS religious and political soil, bolstered its credibility amongst the Malay polity and rehabilitated the UMNO soiled image of the imprisoned Anwar Ibrahim.

“Given the historical background that both UMNO and PAS have been there for 60 years, the natural opposition to UMNO has always been PAS. If they (the voters) reject UMNO, they will fall back to PAS,” said Rafizi Ramli who I have publically disagreed with before.

The problem I have with this line of thinking is, that it is exactly the kind of emotionalism that Rafizi laments in Malaysian politics, when he says something like this, “Politics lately is very much dictated by personal feelings. The whole discourse is about ‘they hit you so why don’t you hit back’,”.

Which is not to say that Rafizi has got it all wrong, there was much pragmatism in what he said in his interview – and I’ll take pragmatism of dogmatism any day of the week – but asking the Non Malay/Muslims for patience after years of UMNO Islamization , is short-sighted, as is seeking to maintain balance with a political party that has jettisoned its moderate impulses in favor of political expediency.

Moderate Malaysians and I suppose I mean  urban voters, have already given PAS, PKR and DAP a free pass or dare I say it a grace period. All this patience has achieved in rancorous infighting between parties who claim to offer an alternative, all the while UMNO gaining strength, with the Prime Minister consolidating his position and making overtures to PAS.

Conrad’s Men in Pink

And while Rafizi accurately points out that PKR needs to play – for whatever reasons – a peace maker role, the reality is that when you have such a fractured alliance, what exactly is the gain by playing the waiting game? As it is, PKR has not managed to generate any equilibrium between PAS, DAP and Amanah, how exactly would PKR react if PAS formed an alliance with UMNO ? How exactly would PKR stem the damage of a political ally switching sides, at the most inopportune moment ?

My thinking and no doubt many others, is that it is better to draw the lines now than later. Better to have allies who will commit now than dither on very specific points of interests. PAS may be willing to forget ancient history but our Opposition who claim to offer an alternative should be willing to learn from it.

And so what if we lose Putrajaya ? If Malay/Muslim concerns always override secular ones, even without PAS on board, how exactly would this be different from the UMNO led Regime ? PAS’s tango with UMNO is not merely a betrayal to Pakatan Rakyat it would also be a betrayal to a specific set of the PAS grassroots whose disdain for UMNO, has over the decades, morphed into an existential conflict.

Unfortunately, these specific adherents are also the most devote Muslims, which makes them anathema to any kind consensus or nation building. They know UMNO will eventually betray them and PAS. While their learned elders tango with UMNO – which should be haram, didn’t you know – they stew in their Islamic juices marinating in the years of UMNO persecution, which they have never forgiven.

Former MCA President, Dr Chua Soi Lek, the last of the old warriors, said it best “The Prime Minister is working hard on his Economic Transformation Programme to turn Malaysia into a high-income nation. He would not sacrifice this goal, and would not allow any political action to affect this goal.” Which basically means that money trumps Religion at least when it comes, to Religious actions like those advocated by PAS. UMNO’s agenda is draw PAS away from the only workable alliance which is a threat to its hegemony. That is clear for everyone to see with the exception of the duplicitous elders of PAS.

Never once has it crossed their minds that legislation like the NSC would be used against them or that such legislation is welcomed by Western hegemons to curb the excess of Islam in this region.  Excess which would be overlooked when it comes to UMNO but not PAS.

The mistake PAS has always made and indeed most political pundits (myself included) is that the Islamization process that UMNO inflicted upon this country was in reaction,  to the sabre rattling of PAS. This ultimately is the least important aspect when it comes to this issue.

The reality is that UMNO is Islam in this country and PAS has never been or will ever be, a political force that can rival UMNO. Much less in any alliance with them. What PAS is blind to, is that the only time they were relevant in mainstream politics, is when they were with Pakatan Rakyat and the only time their contribution to Islam mattered was when they were part of a greater whole.

In the end, Islam as propagated by UMNO will be the winner much to the detriment of the Malay polity, but PAS will always be the loser.