Slap in the face for PN’s non-Malay candidates

 

When I read news reports about Gerakan president Dominic Lau being asked to “go away” at a PAS ceramah and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang telling Muslims that voting against non-Muslims who challenge the “political force of Muslims” is “jihad”, my first thoughts were about the non-Muslims in Perikatan Nasional.

I wondered if they felt slighted, even humiliated. Don’t they have a sense of dignity? Aren’t they angry? If they are, shouldn’t they just walk out in protest?

And then I realised that I might be asking the wrong question. Perhaps the real question is: What’s in it for them personally? Plenty, if they win.

But first, let’s look at what Hadi said on Aug 6. The PAS president was quoted in the media as saying in an opinion piece: “When Muslims are in a position where they have to compete with other races that are clearly challenging the political force of Muslims, then voting is a fardhu ‘ain (obligatory act) jihad that becomes mandatory for every Muslim to perform.”

He is also reported to have said that not going out to vote could cause Muslims to lose political power and result in them being humiliated in this world and the hereafter.

Can we interpret the message as implying bad intention on the part of non-Muslims? Can we interpret it as suggesting that Muslims should not vote for non-Muslims?

Hadi’s message gives the impression he does not care too much about what non-Muslims feel, even when state elections are just a few days away. Yet we have not heard a word of protest from the few non-Muslims standing as PAS candidates, or the non-Muslims in Gerakan.

Politicians, we are often told, have thick skins. Is this then another example of its truth?

I wonder where Andrew Teow, a PAS non-Muslim Supporters Congress member who is contesting the Sungai Puyu state seat in Penang for Perikatan Nasional, will put his face. This is because he has said he would be taking PAS’s motto of “PAS for All” to the people.

Recent actions by PAS will make many reflect on whether PAS indeed is for all. This is unfortunate as I have met some decent PAS leaders and members over the years. Also, they are probably more disciplined than members of many other parties.

Then there is the humiliating case of Gerakan president Lau.
I saw the video where Lau is told to “go away” by a Penang PAS official as he escorts his vice-president Idris Ahmad to the stage on Aug 1. Idris just smiles and walks off, instead of asking the president of the PN coalition partner to go on stage with him.

Lau made it worse by initially denying that the incident had taken place. The viral video showed otherwise.

Subsequently, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan apologised to Lau. He said in a statement: “PAS expresses great discomfort over the incident and, therefore, apologises to Lau, who was perceived as unwelcome at the event in Tasek Gelugor, Penang, which was also attended by the PAS president.”

He urged PAS members to accept Lau’s candidacy for the Bayan Lepas seat. Penang PAS members had wanted one from among them to contest in the Malay-majority constituency and some of them protested when Lau was nominated.

I have covered Gerakan for decades and I can tell you that if something like this had happened to Lim Keng Yaik or Lim Chong Eu, both former presidents of Gerakan, they would not have accepted the almost half-hearted apology from PAS.

Keng Yaik would probably have given a tongue lashing on the spot to the official concerned or confronted the PAS leadership then and there if something like this had happened to him.

Chong Eu would probably have walked back to his car and announced the following day that his party was pulling out of the coalition, or gotten the PAS president to come down to personally apologise to him.

I feel sorry for Lau.

Perhaps he cannot do much because his party does not have any clout, unlike in the days of Chong Eu and Keng Yaik. Perhaps he thinks staying on will at least give the party some senatorships even if its candidates lose in the Aug 12 polls.

Any non-Malay who wins is almost certain of being appointed a state executive councillor in any state that PN wins because every state would need a token non-Malay to show some sense of legitimacy in multiracial Malaysia.

But Lau might as well give up hope of winning the Bayan Lepas seat which he is contesting under the PN banner. Especially so as PAS seems to have abandoned him.

On Aug 5, Penang PAS chief Muhammad Fauzi Yusoff was reported in the media as saying that Lau would have to get his own election machinery to campaign for him as PAS was stretched thin.

He said the party was not boycotting Lau, just that it did not have enough members to help out.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been accepted as a valid reason but when it comes on the heels of the protest by the local PAS against Lau’s candidacy for the Bayan Lepas seat, it raises questions.

As I said, I feel sorry for Lau and Gerakan because they are being asked: “Where’s your dignity?” They have also become the butt of jokes.

What a fall for Gerakan, the party which ruled Penang from 1969 to 1972 and then, after joining the Barisan Nasional, was the dominant power in Penang until 2008.

I asked former Penang Gerakan deputy youth leader Koris Atan what he thought about the incident and the future of Gerakan.

“What happened to Lau is disgraceful. I feel ashamed,” Koris said.

“I come from a staunch Gerakan family. My uncle SP Chelliah was once an exco member during the early years when Lim Chong Eu was chief minister. I love Gerakan.

“Unfortunately, the party is but a pale shadow of what it was in earlier years. There are no great leaders like Chong Eu who commanded the respect of everyone. The party does not have a single seat in Penang where it once ruled. Its candidates in recent elections lost their deposits.”

Koris fears for the future of Gerakan, saying there is a need to start from square one and revive the party with new leadership.

Certainly the future does not look good if the party president himself can be shooed off by a state official of a partner party.

I will be surprised if any Gerakan candidate wins in the election for state assembly seats taking place on Aug 12 in Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu. They should be happy if they retain their election deposits.

Already many non-Malays are asking: “If this can happen to the president of a PN coalition partner during the campaign period, what treatment can ordinary non-Malays expect from PAS if it wins?”

PN has several days to repair the damage but I don’t think that will be enough. I believe PN will lose more non-Malay votes because of what happened to Lau and what Hadi said. - FMT

The writer can be contacted at kathirasen@yahoo.com

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not reflect those of MMKtT.