The many faces of PAS

The party's swing to the right is a betrayal of the progressive PAS we saw in GE13.

COMMENT

PAS is going through an identity crisis. Or maybe it is passing through that rebellious period all of us go through in our teenage years. Considering the age of the party, you’d assume it would have got over that troubling phase, but political parties re-enter puberty every few decades or so, really. To spin a tired metaphor into something more relevant in this scenario, the left knows exactly what the right hand is doing and neither likes the other very much at the moment.

PAS has always been known to host two distinct factions – the ultra-conservative ulamas and the more cosmopolitan Erdogans or “professionals”. The rest find themselves somewhere in between. There has always been tension between the two, but it looks like we’re about to see what happens when things hit boiling point.

You could suppose that the current crisis in PAS has its roots in its handling of the Selangor Menteri Besar crisis. PAS did not toe the Pakatan Rakyat line and instead sent in three names of its choosing as candidates for the position. It was then that a dissident group called PasMa arose within the party, made up of party members who supported Wan Azizah for the post.

Additionally, Hadi Awang reportedly viewed the decision of Selangor assemblymen Saari Sungib and Hasnul Baharuddin to openly support Wan Azizah as a serious act of defiance against his decree. The moderates had to fight to prevent the two from being fired. And such are actions that tyrants’ dreams are made of.

If the Selangor Menteri Besar crisis was the tipping point of the crisis, we are now seeing the escalation of it. The rhetoric issuing from PAS is beginning to become more and more shrill by the day, to the point of attacking the Sisters In Islam (SIS), previously not a problem for PAS. Accusing SIS of insolence for daring to challenge a fatwa against it, PAS Youth sounds scarily like some other ‘NGOs’ out there happily spewing bitter rhetoric against “liberals” who preach “pluralism” to the masses.

Fair and right

Never mind that misogyny is a very real problem the world over and that SIS has been instrumental in teaching Malaysian women that in Islam, women are granted rights and a very special position. Never mind that SIS was not afforded a hearing before the religious authorities to explain itself, as is only fair and right. To PAS Youth, it seems now that challenging the fatwa is disrespectful to the monarchy and PAS itself, as Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi, Hadi Awang’s own son, is loudly proclaiming. And as if to slap Shah Alam MP and moderate PAS member Khalid Samad in the face, he has claimed that the fatwa was issued because of a complaint against SIS by Shah Alam PAS.

Even at the Sodomy 2 hearings, PAS’ presence was negligible, with perhaps a handful of leaders making their presence felt at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya. And rumours claim that it was Hadi himself that directed the party to not show support for Anwar at his last stand.

It’s very clear that in the war between factions in PAS, the ulamas have won, and they are not going to be graceful about it. They will impose their will upon the people and attempt to drive out anyone who tries to oppose them.

Kelantan is poised to implement hudud, chopped hands for thieves and all, and as no doctor will champion the act of removing another person’s limbs in a situation that is not a medical emergency, the state government will employ “professional” hand choppers. What a comforting thought that is.

This is a far cry from the PAS that hit the campaign trail in GE13, one that seemed like the progressive option to the tired extremist rhetoric coming from elements of the opposing camp and various NGOs surrounding it. People like Khalid Samad and Mat Sabu seem to contend that you could be devout and devoted to your faith while embracing the belief that the lessons of the faith are applicable in modern times in ways that are not necessarily laid out by those who championed it before. The lessons of any faith are always relevant; it’s just a matter of context.

Accountability

To urban voters in GE12 and GE13, it seemed like PAS championed a brand of Islam that meant accountability and responsibility in the disbursement of duties to the people, while to the rural vote it was a party that balanced the values of the heartland with the needs of a modern world, the vanguard that stopped the tidal wave from rolling them over. It seems like we have been fed a lie of our own perceptions, unless we are to take it that PAS is like an asura of many faces, each expressing a different facet of its character.

Normally, it may be acceptable for a party to champion many different causes, as long as these can be resolved with the party’s purpose and values. But now it seems like the balance between those facets has been lost, and one side is beginning to dominate the conversation the public is having. The tide cannot be stemmed by Khalid Samad alone, who has attempted to inject some sanity into the religious politics of the country. Nor can Mat Sabu hold it back, as he was rejected by the youth wing at the party’s recent muktamar, when he suggested that PAS work together with its partners.

PAS needs to stop the guessing game that it seems to want the electorate to play. It has worn many faces to try to win our votes, and it now seems like those faces are nothing more than convenient masks to be worn on appropriate occasions.

The alliance of Pakatan Rakyat is one born of more than mere convenience, but of symbiosis. There is no doubt that PAS will survive politically if it breaks off from Pakatan. It is the oldest party, and has been around the block a time or two. But without its partners, there is very little that will push the urban, educated vote towards PAS, especially when the professionals are being rejected within the party itself.

PAS must decide which of its many faces is its true one before the people turn their backs on it.