PAS meet to tread fine line between Umno ties and party unity
Keeping PAS united is expected to top the agenda but central to this is how well president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang does in selling to grassroot members the merits of a synergistic relationship with Umno, especially for a party recently rocked by an exodus of key leaders.
“PAS will need to play a balancing act; there is a risk of alienating its traditional followers and incurring the wrath of the grassroots,” Universiti Malaya analyst Datuk Othman Abu Bakar told Malay Mail Online.
“But they will try and do some explaining and drum it into the grassroots’ ears that PAS is still relevant, and is different in the sense that it is not in any way attached to the maneuvering of each sides of the political bloc,” he added.
At last year’s meet, PAS resolved to sever all ties with its former allies in the DAP, a move that led to the disbanding of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal opposition pact.
A fractious internal polls also saw virtually all the Islamist party’s progressives quit to form Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), the splinter group that has since established a new opposition partnership that excludes PAS.
Since then, PAS has been going it alone but with federal polls just two years away, leaders know that charting a course for the future is pivotal to the survival of the 65-year-old party, which currently only occupies 14 seats in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat.
But any talk ofcooperation with Umno is likely to cause some disquiet among members, many of whom have been indoctrinated to view the Malay national party as a “fake” Muslim party for decades.
“This will be the difficult part. At one hand the friendliness with Umno will be construed as PAS being pro-establishment, on the other hand they must explain how will the friendship benefit the party,” Othman said.
Hadi and his teammates in the PAS leadership hold, however, one trump card - Hadi’s controversial Private Members’ Bill.
Although Hadi recently denied this, the Bill that seeks to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355) has been described by many as the key to the rollout of hudud laws in Kelantan, a long time dream of PAS’s.
In December 2014, Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah told news portal Malaysiakini that PAS was prepared to “even sleep with their arch-rival Umno in order to implement hudud”. He even said then that PAS prioritised its hudud ambition above PR’s collective aim to wrest Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional (BN).
The Kelantan assembly has amended the state’s Shariah Criminal Code Enactment II in preparation of hudud but Hadi’s Bill must first be approved by Parliament before the PAS-led administration can move forward with the plan.
PAS has made several attempts to push the Bill through Parliament but failed. Last week, however, the Bill made a surprise appearance, thanks to a motion to expedite the matter by Umno minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
With Umno’s help, Bill may very likely be debated during the October parliamentary meeting and get the approval PAS desires.
As such, PAS leaders will likely use the issue to justify to grassroot members that the party is reaping the benefits from the overture towards Umno and the so-called “mature politics” it now advocates.
“This shows the importance of power. That we need power to move things. This is when mature politics come into play,” one PAS delegate said at the party’s ulama wing muktamar in Pasir Putih yesterday.
PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man when speaking at the youth muktamar on Monday said this year's assembly will be a “celebration” of the party's victory in getting Hadi’s Bill tabled and read out in Parliament.
“We let bygones be bygones. Let's not dwell in the past,” he said of last year's split in PAS.
“We see this muktamar as a platform to celebrate the president's success in tabling the amendments in Parliament and it will soon be debated.”
Tuan Ibrahim also said that aligning with Umno is unlikely, but added that PAS was ready to acknowledge that some informal cooperation may be beneficial, as in the case of Hadi's Bill.
“We will not work with Umno. But we will acknowledge what is good,” he said.
PAS’s 62nd muktamar will kick off at 8am this morning and will go on until tomorrow afternoon.
from Malay Mail Online | All http://ift.tt/1t2lFuI
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