YOURSAY | ‘Will Umno become PAS, or PAS become Umno?’
Hadi the biggest winner, PAS a bundle of contradictions
Kim Quek: As things stand at this moment, PAS can go one of the three ways to contest the 14th general election (GE14).
1) Stand alone
2) Ally with Umno, whether covert or overt
3) Electoral pact with Pakatan Harapan or part of Pakatan Harapan
The likely outcome of PAS’ performance for parliament seats will be as follows.
Scenario 1: It will be wiped out.
Scenario 2: It can’t win more than half a dozen seats, since its collaboration with Umno will cause mass defection of its supporters.
Scenario 3: It may win around 10 seats or more, depending on the extent of elimination of three-cornered fights, and considering the fact that it will have goodwill supporters from Harapan, in addition to keeping its own traditional supporters.
Clever Voter: It is hard to differentiate PAS from Umno. Both have an identical philosophy where it’s Malay first, no matter what.
Secondly, it has its 'own way' to deal with corruption, meaning it all depends on the situation. Power is centralised and concentrated with a few, which begs the question whether this is leading to an authoritarian state which looks and feels very similar to Umno.
The PAS leadership uses anti-Muslim rhetoric to answer any criticisms. PAS sees itself as an alternative to Umno for now. It wouldn’t surprise me if it becomes the Islamic version of Umno.
David Dass: PAS will continue to be a thorn in the flesh for Umno. PAS has always appealed to the rural heartland of the conservative Malays.
Umno has been the modern progressive forward-looking party bent on making Malaysia and the Malays a scientific technologically advanced community. The investment in education and infrastructure speaks for itself.
Then PKR aligned with PAS under Nik Aziz Nik Mat, a universally acclaimed man of principle. And it almost seemed that the ‘Islamic state’ was traded off for good governance.
And the PAS factor almost won the Pakatan alliance the elections. The PAS electioneering machinery was super-efficient. And DAP-PKR-PAS became a formidable alliance.
But it was an uneasy alliance. PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, the Malay nationalist, was uncomfortable with the pact with the DAP, perceived as a Chinese party.
And when Nik Aziz died, Hadi moved towards Umno. A split occurred within PAS and the intellectual moderates moved out and formed their own party, Amanah. And Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin have also joined the opposition.
Will Umno and PAS get together? At what price? Will Umno then become PAS or will PAS become Umno? Is there a middle point?
The backing of Act 355 indicates the extent to which Umno is prepared to go. But the non-Malay members of the BN are uneasy. As it is, MCA and Gerakan no longer lead the Chinese. Does the MIC represent a significant number of the Indians? And what do the East Malaysians think?
In the meantime, PAS representatives sit in government with the opposition in Penang and Selangor.
Is there a hope that all of these moves will ultimately be good for democracy and good for multi-religious Malaysia? It is a confusing time.
How will the Malays vote? Is there a deep schism among the Malays? Between moderate Malays and conservative Malays?
Will Umno and PAS capture the majority of Malay votes? Or will the new opposition with Mahathir/Anwar Ibrahim/Lim Kit Siang/Mohamad Sabu carry the day?
But what do these people represent in their coalition? What vision do they have for Malaysia? Do they dare come out with a bold new vision? Or will it still be a mish-mash of confused and conflicting objectives?
Aries46: Despite its alleged quarrelsome repute and a seeming history of betrayals and jumping beds, PAS' best ever performance was when it was in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition under the guidance of the revered Tok Guru Nik Aziz when its core principle of 'welfare state' won the day for them.
Sadly, PKR-bashing aside, the muktamar seems orchestrated to vindicate Hadi from the scorn being heaped on him by his detractors. That in turn has shot him to new heights deserving nothing less than the premiership.
Dreams aside, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Though the predictions are gloomy, what is in store for PAS in its latest union is left to be seen in GE14.
But let us hope for Hadi's sake that having gone the full circle and having returned to its 'promised land', PAS may find the bliss and fulfilment that has evaded it for so long.
Anonymous 444981488553970: Certainly Hadi is the hero. They got what they wanted through a cosy relationship with Umno. Now he gets the adulation he longs for. But it comes at a price.
And the price will be paid in full at GE14. All those broken promises of ‘PAS For All’ will reap its rewards then. See you, PAS, at GE14.
Mosquitobrain: Hadi has a poor memory. Pakatan Rakyat lost Terengganu and later Kedah to BN-Umno due to PAS’s poor administrative skills. The rest is history.
Meerkat: PAS is seemingly like a little child who has been ignored. Trying to make all kinds of ridiculous noises to attract attention.
But it won't change the fact that they are no longer relevant, except in certain confined areas.
Goldee: PAS can shout as much as they like but the voters have made up their minds a long time ago since they broke off from Pakatan Rakyat, to shy away from PAS.
To the majority of the voters, PAS is apparently a troublesome party which has no direction and can't be trusted.
Prudent: This is a shrewd and tactful evaluation of PAS. Thanks, Malaysiakini.
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