6œ theSun | MONDAY JUNE 8 2009

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PAS dilemma
IT WAS a PAS dilemma – it wants to play a much
bigger role in the opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat,
while at the same time it wants to be with Umno
should there be a danger of the Malays losing politi-
cal power.
This is reflected in the composition of the new
central committee elected on Friday. While the top
posts went to those who prefer to talk with Umno,
many of those who want to play a more proactive
role in the PR were also elected to the committee.
It was the most watched PAS triennial elections.
Understandably, its other Pakatan Rakyat associ-
ates watched the show with a lot of interest.
So did Umno and its partners in the Barisan
Nasional coalition. And so did other Malaysians.
That the candidates, who are ulama, and their
supporters managed to keep the others out of the
top party leadership must have disappointed PKR
leaders who were known to be close to those who
lost and who could, had they won, help cement a
closer relationship between the two parties.
There is no doubt the DAP leaders, known to
be uncomfortable with PAS on many issues, were
Comment
by Zainon Ahmad
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
any trucking with Umno and made no secret of his
opposition to Nasharudin playing footsie with the
leading party in the BN.
He accepts the argument that PAS won the most
number of parliamentary seats ever in March 2008
because it was a beneficiary of the appeal by PKR
leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to the electorate,
who were generally dissatisfied with the BN, to
register their protest by “voting anything but the
BN.”
For PAS to win more seats in the next general
election, expected to be called within the next three
years, it has to retain the non-Malays who voted for Nasharudin (with hands raised) and Nik Aziz
it last year and perhaps gain more, the party – in PAS leadership (inset) at the PAS muktamar in Shah Alam
light of the BN working hard to spruce up its image
– has to show a much friendlier face.
for 2009-2011 yesterday.

disappointed too. They had hoped the election
would be won by those who could be influenced
not to flaunt the party’s Islamic state objective in
public.
Indeed, some young DAP leaders have been
known to be talking to young PAS leaders to try
to persuade them to suppress the party’s “Islamic
state” objective in the interest of exercising power
in Putrajaya.
Thus the two parties had placed much hope
on Kelantan exco member Datuk Husam Musa,
a charismatic party vice-president and protégé
of party icon and spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz
Nik Mat, defeating incumbent deputy president
Nasharudin Mat Isa, who was going for his third
term.
Husam, an economist, seems to be most com-
mitted to the idea of Pakatan Rakyat. He is against
To PKR and DAP and many others, especially
the non-Malays, Husam would have been the most President
acceptable face of PAS. To him, the Islamic state Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang
that PAS has been talking about for a long time is (won uncontested)
but a distant objective.
If Husam and his associates, especially those Deputy President
from Kelantan, suffered by being ousted from the Nasharudin Mat Isa (480 votes)
party’s central committee altogether, Nik Aziz’s Vice-presidents
image and reputation suffered even more because Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (871 votes)
of his backing for them and what they stand for. Salahuddin Ayub (824 votes)
Clearly the Tok Guru, much revered in Kel- Datuk Mahfuz Omar (636 votes)
antan, who had expected party delegates to stand
by him, had underestimated the opposition of his Central Working Committee
fellow ulama to the idea of a closer cooperation in Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin
Pakatan Rakyat. Idris Ahmad
Perhaps the only party that heaved a sigh of re- Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar
lief at the defeat of Husam and his friends is Umno. Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak
That no sigh is heard is because some Umno lead- Datuk Dr Hassan Ali
Dr Mohd Hatta Mohd Ramli
Abdul Gani Samsuddin
Datuk Abu Bakar Che
Hanipa Maidin
Datuk Amirruddin Hamzah
Dr Lo Lo Mohd Ghazali
Abdul Ghani Abdul Rahman
Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad
Dr Syed Azman Syed Nawawi
Hashim Jasin
Mazlan Ali Man
Taib Azamuddeen Taib
Dr Muhajid Yusuf Rawa
ers prefer to do it quietly while others continue
to be in denial and insist Umno is never under
threat.
Had Husam won, he would probably have
made good his boast to build up PAS – president
Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang and those influenc-
ing him notwithstanding – into a strong and
well-organised party so as to wrench away
from Umno the leadership of the Malay com-
munity.
It is tempting to describe the defeat of Husam
and his associates as the defeat of the liberals
and the progressive elements within PAS just as
it is tempting to describe those he and his friends
tried to topple as conservatives.
They have also been described as reformists
and collectively called Erdogan, after Turkish
Prime Minister Racep Tayyip Erdogan who
headed the reformist group in his party. Those
they opposed have been described as being
anti-reform.
The contest on Friday had also been de-
scribed as the ulama versus the non-ulama or
the professionals. Nothing is so simple as within
each group there are ulama who are liberal
and also those who are conservative and some
ulama are also professionals.
Nik Aziz, an ulama, had backed Husam while
Hadi, also an ulama and a Tok Guru, is with
Nasharudin. Thus, the Husam-Nasharudin fight
could also be seen as a proxy fight between the
two Tok Guru. After all, Nik Aziz had rebuked
Hadi publicly and the party president is not too
happy about it.
But what is clear is there are those in PAS
who don’t want to wait another 50 years to
govern at the federal level and who saw being
part of the Pakatan Rakyat as an opportunity
to reach Putrajaya early – even if they have to
work with the DAP.
Opposing them are those who generally feel
they don’t mind working with the DAP and PKR
for the moment and are unsure whether they
should coalesce further with them but would
prefer to cooperate with Umno should there be a
danger of the Malays losing political power.

minister, was commenting on the Terengganu state govern-

briefs
Shafie: ‘Unity govt’
only if ...
MALACCA: Umno must study
PAS’ proposal for a unity gov-
ernment to see whether it is in
the interests of the country and
people or for the sake of party
politics before making any deci-
sion, said Umno vice-president
Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
He said the proposal to imple-
ment the formation of a unity
government must be based on
sincerity.
“If the proposal is for the
benefit of the country and
people, we must see how it can
boost national development,
especially in the wake of the
global economic recession,” he
told reporters after closing the
national-level Kemas Kinder-
garten Potentials Day here on
Saturday night.
Mohd Shafie, who is also
rural and regional development
the statement by PAS president
Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang
that he was confident the idea
of forming a unity government
between PAS and Umno could
be implemented if everyone
understood the objectives of its
formation. – Bernama
Khairy hopeful for
Umno-PAS talks
KUALA TERENGGANU: Umno
Youth hopes the discussion
between Umno and PAS can
be continued following the
re-election of Nasharudin Mat
Isa as PAS deputy president
yesterday.
Umno Youth chief Khairy
Jamaluddin said UmnoYouth
kept an open mind on coop-
eration with PAS because after
the last general election, the
question of bilateral discussions
between the two parties had
begun to be discussed.
“With Ustaz Nasharudin’s
victory, the ‘muzakarah’ or
discussion agenda can be con-
tinued,” he told reporters after
a Terengganu Youth programme
organised in collaboration with
ment and state Umno, here on
Saturday night. – Bernama
PAS wants govt to
scrap PPSMI
SHAH ALAM: The 55th PAS
annual general assembly that
ended yesterday passed a mo-
tion urging the government to
immediately abolish the Teach-
ing and Learning of Science and
Mathematics in English (PPSMI).
Rembau delegate Taufik Abdul
Ghani, who tabled the motion,
said the party objected to the
Education Ministry’s move to
delay the people’s demand for
the scrapping of PPSMI.
The motion was seconded
by former Perak mentri besar
and PAS central working com-
mittee member Datuk Seri
Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.
The motion also disapproved of
the ministry’s rejection of the
first study of PPSMI’s effective-
ness during Datuk Seri Hisham-
muddin Hussein’s tenure as
education minister and said the
second study by Tan Sri Muhyid-
din Yassin as the new minister
was a waste. – Bernama