“We have a choice. We have two options as human beings. We have a choice between conversation and war. That's it. Conversation and violence. And faith is a conversation stopper.”

- Sam Harris

COMMENT | My contention is simple. PAS may as well be in the Madani government. What is PAS but the motherlode of bad ideas and political hypocrisy both of which Madani excels in.

We can talk about the deep reformasi roots that PAS and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim shared when he was first evicted from Umno paradise.

We can also talk about the prime minister’s ideological framework when he served under the old maverick. And of course, we can talk about how PAS and its brand of populism and canny use of social media has fuelled its political ascension. All of this misses the point.

The fact is that what Madani is doing is making it easier for PAS when it eventually takes over. We are not dealing with differing political ideologies here. What Muslim disunity has achieved is the suppression and dismantling of progressive ideas and personalities in the majority community.

Indeed, Madani has been doing PAS’ job of demonising progressive voices in...