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Pas agonises over its role in Pakatan
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The Pas annual assembly or ‘muktamar’ this week will be of critical importance to the Islamist party’s future.
SOME 1,000 delegates from 175 divisions will represent almost one million party members at the 54th Pas muktamar -- an annual gathering of the faithful dedicated to centralising Islam in politics and the life of the nation.
This year's assembly should have been cause for celebration after the party's unprecedented gains in the March 8 general election.
Many among the grassroots, however, are disenchanted. The organisation they bank on to make Islam the ad-deen or way of life appears to have been sidetracked.
The three-day muktamar in Ipoh, the capital of Perak, where Pas created history by having one of its own as a minority menteri besar, is the perfect platform for seeking answers from those with authority in the party.
The dissatisfied have been keeping their complaints to themselves but now want their voices heard.
Party leaders, already under fire for holding secret meetings with arch nemesis Umno, are ready to listen and accept the harshest of criticism expected to be directed at them.
Party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang is anticipating that the delegates will be asking questions on what the leaders have done or perhaps not done in the administration of the five Pakatan Rakyat-controlled states.
Grumbles over alleged "unfair treatment" noticeably abound in Penang, Perak and Selangor.
Although party leaders deny any serious dissent among the cadre over the Islamist party's compromises in the coalition government of the three states, they are well aware of the issues.
Telling the rank and file to exercise patience in the hope that things will be sorted out within the loose Pakatan structure does not seem to be enough to appease the members. Pas-linked websites and blogs bear testimony to the "real situation".
Penang Pas Youth chief Mohd Hafiz Nordin, for instance, says it has no qualms about raising members' misgivings at the Youth assembly beginning tonight. Its delegates will set the tone for discussions on the Pakatan alliance even if the matter is not raised by Youth chief Salahuddin Ayob in his policy speech.
Party members in Penang are said to be unhappy about Pas' purportedly insignificant role in the state's administration. Senior leaders have dismissed the reports as "rumours".
Pas, however, only has two councillors' posts in Penang. Its sole assemblyman -- Permatang Pasir's Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman -- has not been given any extra duties to date in the state government. For this reason, some members want Pas to take a back seat in the Permatang Pauh by-election.
Penang Pas Youth was no doubt encouraged by an unexpected and potentially far-reaching statement by Abdul Hadi at the recent closed-door state Pas convention.
Abdul Hadi, to the surprise of many of those present, indicated the possibility of Pas leaving the Pakatan Rakyat if power-sharing in the coalition was no longer acceptable to the party.
"We were surprised by what the president said but it was received with an encouraging response. There were shouts of Allahuakbar from the floor," says Mohd Hafiz.
"We were also happy to receive an assurance that Pas is still very much committed to its struggle to uphold Islam despite having moved from its conservative stance on issues related to religion," he says.
Abdul Hadi, the Terengganu politician still seen by many as a hardliner, reportedly told the participants that it would be time for Pas to excuse itself from the Pakatan should Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim achieve his ambition of toppling the Barisan Nasional government by an influx of non-Muslim members of parliament.
Pas' representation in the new arrangement would then be smaller than it is in the present Pakatan.
"Penang Pas Youth wants to remind Pakatan Rakyat that Islam should be given priority if the coalition succeeds in wresting power from the BN," says Mohd Hafiz.
Similar sentiments are evinced by members in Perak.
In Selangor, Pas Youth has continually protested against activities it deems immoral, such as various entertainment events, and anything else it sees as contrary to Pas' obligation to champion Islam in the country.
Pas' concerns in Selangor, which is led by Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, include opposing the staging of a concert by sexy Indonesian dangdut queen Inul Daratista and the much-publicised ruckus at Pakatan's price hike rally at Stadium Kelana Jaya during a performance by rock band Carburetor Dung.
All these and more are expected to dominate the muktamar which kicks off tonight with the opening of the Dewan Pemuda (Youth) assembly by party deputy president Nasha-ruddin Mat Isa. This will be followed by the assemblies of the Dewan Ulama (religious scholars) and Dewan Muslimat (women) on Thursday.
Abdul Hadi will open the muktamar proper on Friday.
The general election saw the loose opposition coalition of Pas, PKR and DAP, which later became the Pakatan Rakyat, robbing the Barisan Nasional of its customary two-thirds majority in the 222-seat Parliament, and winning control of Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.
Thorny issues, however, remain within the Pakatan despite denials and reassurances from its leaders, and soothing words that all is well.
Apart from the challenges of staying in the Pakatan set-up, an important subject that will be debated is the renewed call for the party to open up to non-Muslims to become members.
Upsetting the popular belief that Malaysians largely vote along racial and religious lines, many non-Muslims had backed Pas in the last general elections.
Pas is already working towards allowing non-Muslim supporters to serve in various capacities through party clubs, which now have about 10,000 members, including among the Ibans in Sarawak.
The attitude the party strikes in its often difficult relationship with non-Muslims is bound to set sparks flying in the muktamar.
- NST -
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