What does it say about Madani govt if PAS joins?

"Such questions are important before you want to evaluate us. Stop resorting to ‘kolot’ and ‘jumud’ narratives."

– Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim responding to PAS chief Abdul Hadi Awang

First of all, I have no idea why PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s narratives are considered “kolot” (old-fashioned) and “jumud” (backwards) when they are in fact racist.

It is not as if Hadi’s ideas on race relations and religious hegemony could be waved away as quaint or eccentric. The existential crisis facing this country is not corruption but religious extremism.

So why is it that the prime minister feels the need to include PAS in this unity government? What does this say about unity in this country if PAS joins the government?

What does it say about this Madani government if a political party which routinely demonises non-Malays, goes against the wishes of the royal institutions, and has proclaimed itself as the gatekeeper of Islam, joins the government?

What does this say about DAP? Don’t get me wrong. DAP has demonstrated a willingness to work with anyone to get into power - I mean, to save Malaysia - so I doubt there would be any blowback from DAP or its supporters.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang

Hadi alleged that non-Malay representation in this unity government is detrimental to Malay supremacy.

Before Anwar secured a place in the Putrajaya hot seat, DAP supremo Anthony Loke said: “So I wish to put on record, as I said just now, on Nov 22, before Anwar went to Istana Negara, I told Anwar, as long as you can be prime minister, DAP is willing to sacrifice anything, that is my commitment to Anwar.

“So I placed my trust in Anwar, he did not agree for us to not enter the cabinet. He insisted DAP must be part of the government. I left it to him, the issue of number, the issue of composition. To me, that is the prime minister’s discretion, and as far as DAP is concerned, we place the country’s interests over the party’s interests.”

I get what Umno brings to the table and believe me, whatever they are bringing is fast fading with the war of attrition Perikatan Nasional is waging.

But what PAS has demonstrated, by being welcomed into the mainstream, is that its religious agenda is normalised in the eyes of the majority polity.

Anwar’s Islamisation

Right now, this government is attempting to replicate the strategies of the BN regime. Non-Malay power brokers know their place and the entire system of government is used to reinforce the ideological foundations of race, religion, and royalty that worked well for Umno/BN for decades.

Anwar seemed to be channelling the old maverick when he reminded that young woman of the social contract. He seemed to be outplaying Hadi when he presided over the conversion ceremony of that young convert.

And by reinforcing the funding of the religious bureaucracy, he wants to define the religious narrative of this country.

PM Anwar Ibrahim

The problem with Anwar’s Islamisation is that it gives cover to PN when it decides to do the same thing. If PN eventually comes to power, what it will rely on is the blueprint set out by Anwar and the support of the non-Malays who did not raise any objections to Anwar’s Islamic agenda.

This is already peddled to the base if people are actually paying attention and not merely getting their news from the echo chambers of the Pakatan Harapan support system.

Can you imagine how much easier things would be for PAS if it was part of this unity government?

Act 355

Take the proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355), for instance. When PAS was going around touting this as a major step for the agenda of Islamisation in this country, it received pushback from Harapan and DAP.

PAS not only vilified DAP for this but also questioned the Islamic credentials of any Malay political operative who opposed this policy. Indeed, so vehement were the objections from DAP, PAS had a field day attacking Malay political operatives who are now their allies.

When PAS was in power with PN, they conveniently forgot about it as Anwar rightly pointed out.

The decision of this government to table Act 355 after it passes cabinet approval and the silence of DAP would be made worse with PAS in the government.

Now of course they would determinedly pursue such agendas because PAS has demonstrated they have no real policy agenda beyond religious ones.

“If we (PN) become more extreme, it will be difficult to form a federal administration because it requires the cooperation of all races, including the Borneo bloc, which has many non-Muslim natives as well as moderate Muslims,” said former Bersatu supreme council member Muhammad Faiz Na’aman.

Blut und boden

Forget about who is saying it but does anyone really think that PAS will moderate its behaviour if it joins Madani?

Now the rhetoric from PAS has entered overt blut und boden (blood and soil) territory which was always there but now has become unhinged with Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor wanting the Federal Constitution changed so Kedah could annex Penang and PAS claiming that Malay land in Penang has been “systematically seized” like Muslim land in Palestine has been seized by the Jews.

What are we really talking about here? What is the deliberate imagery being engineered by PAS? What are the emotions PAS is trying to stoke by comparing Muslims in Penang to Palestinians? PAS is implying that the leadership in Penang - Chinese leadership - is akin to the Jewish state.

And please don’t gaslight people into thinking that PAS joining the unity government is some sort of cunning strategy. Or maybe it is only the non-Malays being played. - Mkini

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.