Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Posted: 04 Jun 2011 04:59 PM PDT
The fundamentalists have lost out to the young professionals, thus setting the stage for further trouble in PAS. Thus, the Pakatan-ruled Selangor government often faced obstacles in administering the state, with verbal clashes common among PKR, DAP and PAS on policies that touched on Islam and Muslims. Zainal Epi, Free Malaysia Today PAS is heading for an internal crisis following the conclusion of the party election where the young intellectuals aligned to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim won all the posts they contested. The result caught the ulama group or veteran fundamentalists by surprise as they had managed to ward off the onslaught of the young group dubbed the "Erdogans" in the 2009 party election. But this time around, their "shields" were no longer invincible. (The Erdogans are named after popular Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is known for his moderate Islamic politics.) Outside the Dewan Kolej Universiti Islam Zulkifli Mohamad, at Taman Melewar, here, where the results were announced yesterday, many veterans voiced their dissatisfaction. Two-termed deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, "targeted" by the Erdogans in 2009, fell to party rebel rouser Mohamed Sabu who captured the number two spot with a convincing majority of 196 votes (Nasharuddin polled 224 votes to Mohamed's 420). Mohamed, known for his fiery speeches, had even defeated another well-known candidate Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man by a mere 21-vote majority. Nasharuddin has been marked for "political assassination" by the Erdogans when he mooted the idea of a unity government with Umno immediately after the 2008 general election, where the Barisan Nasional performed dismally. Islamic ideology The veterans have all this while refused to play second fiddle to PKR or DAP in the Paktan Rakyat as they tried to promote its brand of Islamic ideology in the alliance, which has been rejected outright by DAP and quietly by PKR. Thus, the Pakatan-ruled Selangor government often faced obstacles in administering the state, with verbal clashes common among PKR, DAP and PAS on policies that touched on Islam and Muslims. Even Valentine's Day celebration became a big issue as PAS tried to ban the event, which it said contains elements of Christianity. While the veterans were beating the drums, the Erdogans kept silent as they quietly planned a "new approach and strategy" to take over the leadership after their failed bid in the 2009 party election. With the fall of Nasharuddin and the vice-presidents – Sallehuddin Ayub, Mahfuz Omar and Husam Musa – the party is now totally in the hands of the Erdogans. Abdul Hadi Awang, who won the president post uncontested, is now standing alone and he will no longer be able to dictate policies as he wishes. With the new line-up, PAS is expected to field mostly professionals in the coming general election, but the seat allocations will be decided by an "outside force", that is, Anwar.
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| Will PAS’s new dream team be Umno’s nightmare? Posted: 04 Jun 2011 11:23 AM PDT
By Sheridan Mahavera, The Malaysian Insider The election of veteran activists, parliamentarians, state administrators and think tank experts into the top PAS leadership has appeared to put the party on a firm war footing. This line-up of Mohamed Sabu as the PAS deputy president and vice-presidents Salahuddin Ayub, Datuk Husam Musa and Datuk Mahfuz Omar is expected to not only stand shoulder to shoulder with allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) but it is said that they want to spearhead the coalition in its march to Putrajaya. Their election perhaps speaks of the party's changing membership and support base, and the rank-file's desire to see the party move beyond an Islamist movement to a national-level ruling party. And there is very little doubt about working or talking to Umno or Barisan Nasional (BN). Not only will this leadership have no truck with them, PAS's new war cabinet fervently wants to replace Umno as the representative of Malay Muslims. Yet despite the optimism that the new leadership could widen PAS's public appeal, a significant number of members are uncomfortable with the shift in the voting trend. "I wished that an ulama had won. PAS should be lead by an ulama because it is an Islamic movement," said a Kuala Lumpur grassroots member when he heard the new line up. For the first time in 20 years, a majority of PAS's top leadership are made up of those who don't come from a religious education background or to use a much-misunderstood term, ulama (religious scholar). "This is the leadership that will put the fear in Umno," said Kelana Jaya delegate Abdul Rahman Othman. "It is a dynamic dream team for us to go into the next general election." The headline-grabbing personality is the very amiable new party deputy president Mohamad. A former MP, senior Pakatan leader/activist, ex-Internal Security Act detainee, popular ceramah speaker and a veteran civil disobedience insurrectionist. Mohamad defeated incumbent Nasharudin Mat Isa and another popular challenger, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man for the coveted post. Below him are three vice-presidents, each of whom has crafted huge public profiles as national parliamentary opposition leaders — Salahuddin, Husam and Mahfuz. Of the central committee members, only six are considered "ulama" personalities. The rest of the 18 elected members are lawyers, doctors, engineers, — individuals that more reflect the majority Malay middle and working class that PAS courts. Mohd Rashidi Hasan, a popular pro-PAS writer, explained that though delegates still wanted the ulama to be "guardians of the party", they realised it would take more than religious scholars to beat Umno. "PAS wants to lead Pakatan, but to do that it needs to win more Malay majority seats," said Rashidi. In a way, the election results are an out-growth of the sentiments that elected the new Muslimat (women's wing) leadership, where the top three posts went to two MPs and a Senator. "We wanted a leadership that would be able to take Muslimat forward," said a Muslimat member from Perak, who requested anonymity. It is a desire for PAS to move beyond Malay society's religious set and appeal to mainstream Muslims, whose ties to the faith are basic and who are more worried about making ends meet. Delegates however took pains to stress that the polls was not a manifestation of the "ulama vs professional" schism that has dominated media reports about PAS.. "We choose based on who we think can best perform," said Temerloh delegate Syed Hamid Syed Mohamed.
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