The upside of PAS’ divorce-if-you-defect oath

PAS state assembymen and MPs were recently reminded that defection to GHB would mean divorce since they had placed their wives as collateral

COMMENT

By Ann Martinez

Disgruntled wives of MPs and state assemblymen in Kelantan can’t believe their luck.

After years of playing the dutiful wife, years of dressing up for parties and dressing down to mingle with the common folk, years of minding their households on their own while their sometimes errant husbands traversed the state and country on “duty”….after years of putting up with their marriages while putting aside their personal feelings, there is now a way out of their predicament, more specifically, their marriage, if they want it.

PAS leader for Rantau Panjang, Abdul Fatah Harun recently provided candidates’ wives a new, no-fuss avenue for divorce when he reminded PAS MPs and state assemblymen in Kelantan of the bai’ah (oath) they took in order to be candidates in the general election.

Apparently, potential candidates had to place their wives as collateral in order be able to contest in the last election. The oath or the bai’ah the candidates took meant that those looking to defect to Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) would be forced to divorce their wives should they go through with their defection.

What a stroke of luck for discontented wives of MPs and state assemblymen. Bye-bye messy divorce. No more shame. No need to prove or disprove anything. Just encourage the husband to go over to the other side and wave and cheer him on as he does.

The political party of the defectors can also expect benefits from this divorce-if-you-defect requirement.

Party membership is sure to surge as wives urge their politically ambitious husbands to take up membership in the party. Previously apathetic members, uninterested in actively engaging in politics will now be jostling to offer themselves up as candidates.

What a stroke of genius for the party often characterized as ultra-conservative to dare to see the hidden potential in the adage “Behind every successful man, is a woman”…..

Ann Martinez is an FMT columnist.