Pas needs to follow the guidance left by Nik Aziz - Experts

SHAH ALAM - There is no guarantee that the 'Pas for All' project will help Perikatan Nasional (PN) seize the administration of Selangor and Putrajaya in the 16th General Election (GE16).

Ilham Centre Executive Director Hisommudin Bakar said the project might also face failure without the support of two more allies of Pas in PN, namely Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Gerakan.

Moreover, Hisommuddin predicted that the project would receive the same fate as the Pas Lantern Festival, which did not receive support from non-Malay voters, especially the Chinese, during the Pelangai by-election campaign last September.

Hisommudin said although the party tried to break the dominance and dogmatic approach by doing so, Chinese voters still rejected Pas because they had always seen it as an ultra-Malay-Islamic party.

"In fact, the slogans 'Pas for All' and 'Welfare State' are not new as they were used during the era of former Kelantan Menteri Besar, the late Tan Sri Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat when he was the Mursyidul Am, in an effort to attract votes from other communities.

"Pas, which was part of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition with DAP and PKR, successfully seized the government administration in four states namely Perak, Kedah, Selangor, and Penang, besides retaining Kelantan during the GE 2008," he told Sinar Premium.

At the same time, Hisommuddin said Pas also needed to be careful when making statements so as not to appear too extreme and touch the sensitivities of non-Malay communities.

Hisommudin said if Pas wants to reuse 'Pas for All', the party must follow the guidance left by the late Nik Aziz as an example and role model to regain non-Malay support for the party.

As an example, he said, Nik Aziz was very open to the top leadership of DAP including former DAP chairman Karpal Singh or DAP Advisor Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang who were once his political rivals.

"In fact, Nik Aziz also often held meetings, discussions and dialogues with non-Muslim leaders including Buddhist monks, which were seen optically by non-Malay voters.

"Pas's struggle to uphold Islam at that time did not prevent Nik Aziz from having dialogue, meeting, or providing financial assistance to his non-Malay and non-Muslim constituents, but his approach was very different compared to the current leadership," he said.

Meanwhile, Hisommudin emphasised that Pas also needed to avoid making statements that would cause tension and dissatisfaction within the PN coalition, including expressing the desire to refer and resume cooperation with Umno through the Muafakat Nasional (MN) concept.

"Pas cannot issue any unilateral statements because they are now part of the PN component. So Pas's actions could invite discomfort or touch the sensitivities of fellow PN comrades.

"Thus, Pas needs to resolve internal problems within the coalition first because it sends a confusing message to PN supporters at the grassroots level," he said.

MIXED VOTERS

University Malaya Political Science Department Public Administration and Development, Senior Lecturer Dr Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub said Pas has to do so because votes from Malay-Muslims alone cannot help PN seize states with mixed voters like Selangor and Perak.

Tawfik said Pas' move to reintroduce the slogan 'Pas for All' shows that votes from non-Malay communities were also important to PN, which was made up of Pas, Bersatu and Gerakan to achieve results or win more seats in Selangor.

"This is because although PN has the majority support of Malay-Muslim voters, they only managed to capture 22 State Legislative Assembly seats in Selangor and failed to seize the state government, in the GE15.

"So if Pas and PN only focus on votes from Malay-Muslims alone, then it is quite difficult for them to seize the administration of either Selangor state or the Federal Government which is now controlled by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) and BN coalition," he said.

Therefore, Tawfik said PN and Pas also need to realise that Malaysia is a pluralistic country and in certain states, they need support from non-Malay-Muslims to ensure that they can take over the state government administration, for example in Selangor and Perak.

"In states with a majority of Malay voters like Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis, Pas and PN may be able to act by saying they do not need non-Malay support and only fight for the fate of 'Malay-Muslims' only.

"However, in Selangor and Perak, Pas and PN must acknowledge that they are pressed and need non-Malay support to control the administration of the respective state governments," he said.