YOURSAY ‘There is no need for an immediate black and white in politics.’

PasMa to discuss forming party at coming meet

Anonymous #20513663: PasMa and PAS progressives should not make the same mistake as DAP. There is no need for an immediate black and white in politics. Some cunning and strategy is required.

One possible solution is for PasMa to remain an NGO for a while, while assessing grassroots support. Meanwhile, PAS progressives have a very good excuse to 'rest' as Mohamad Sabu is doing: to 'respect the wishes of the delegates and the party leadership'.

Lie low but organise yourselves in the background. Then strike at the right moment. Just like how Umno kept a very low media profile in the PAS muktamar, but everybody knows that they were doing a lot behind the scenes to get Hadi Awang and gang in power.

I am not saying PasMa needs to become a ‘talam dua muka’ like Umno, but some political acumen and strategy is needed here. Don't make hasty decisions.

Read the signs of the times, 'tweak' things accordingly and let 'natural forces' bring you to your destination.

Jbsuara: The old PAS was unable to spread their influence beyond Kelantan and Terengganu, before the progressive group in PAS changed the party's image and dynamic.

Since then, PAS has the wider support of the moderate Malays and the non-Malays, leading to a convincing 51 percent majority votes for Pakatan Rakyat at GE13.

As the ulama group are going to bring PAS back to its previous conservative stance,  is unlikely to be able to maintain its present broad support of all Malaysians, especially the non-Muslims.

The Malaysian political scenario is changing fast and it is timely for PasMa to provide a political platform for the middle ground and progressive Muslim citizens to continue their political activism for all Malaysians.

Dont Just Talk: Phahrolrazi Zawawi, just do it and take the plunge to turn PasMa into a political party. Form a tripartite alliance with Pakatan Rakyat and literate Malaysians will certainly vote for you in urban and suburban cities and towns.

As American automotive inventor Henry Ford said, if you think you can, you can and if you think you can't, you can't, either way you are right.

Let PAS continue to be the ‘kampung’ party to fight it out with Umno Baru in Kelantan and the rural areas of Terengganu. Even then, the party might be wiped out without the leadership of the late Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

Swipenter: The best option is for DAP and PKR to merge and form a new political party. Other smaller parties can be invited to join and to partake in the new politics so badly needed in Bolehland. All Malaysians are eligible to join.

That is the one giant leap for Malaysians to move away from the perception that we cannot live without raced-based political parties, and for that matter, any organisation.

Since independence, all political parties are race/religion based to some extent and even they were not, that image is hard to shake off. We need to destroy that image with one or more bold strikes.

When I was growing up in Ipoh, PPP was the party for all even though most of leaders were of Indian origin. We were awestruck by the Seenivasagam brothers. No one could come close to defeating them in any election in Ipoh.

Anj2208: PasMa is needed to shoulder the image of progressive Muslims. DAP and PKR alone will not make a dent in areas of more than two-third Malay majorities.

Most Malays hold their religion dear to their hearts and this is very true in states like Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. Until recently, PAS was appealing to these people.

With the progressive being kicked out, there will be a vacuum and it must filled hopefully by PasMa. The group will have problems to register as a new party with the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

They should take over a small party as PKR had done and rebranding themselves to project a progressive Muslim image which focus more on the universal values, current state of affairs and people’s welfare.

With the positive response here, I can bet they will last more than a year. The progressives I knew in PAS, they are no cowards, they are fighters and not afraid to sleep in the lock-up for the cause.

Kadir Sulong: PAS moderates must understand that there is no way they can change the party, especially with the extremists having won in the elections.

Not to form a new party and hoping to convince the others in PAS is a false notion because the election results speak for themselves. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah wanted to reform Umno from within, and see what happened?

Proarte: PasMa should remain an NGO and not enter the political terrain. Malaysia has secular-based laws and any association with a religious-based party such as PasMa would spell disaster for Pakatan, in the same way PAS has been.

Why is PasMa contemplating forming a new political party only when they have been ignominiously rejected by PAS? Why should Pakatan accept a party of PAS rejects?

Furthermore, PasMa carries PAS baggage and please do not be surprised at some point in the future PasMa plays the Islamic card to garner votes.

If PasMa as an NGO really consists of 'progressives', then they must ask themselves why DAP or PKR is not suitable for them to join rather than to form a new Islamic-based party. By its very nature, an Islamic party will be a source of division in plural and multi-religious Malaysia.

DAP and PKR must invite PasMa members to join their parties on the understanding that they agree with the 'common manifesto' and will not be advocating hudud or an Islamic state.

The Analyser: It’s interesting to note that the Christian Democratic Union in Germany arose out of a need for a new order after the collapse of Nazism. That's just about the situation that Malaysia is in now.

We need a new order that has nothing to do with religion nor the Malays nor the Chinese nor the Indians. But an order that is true to all Malaysians led by thinking men and women who don't rely on holy books to do their thinking for them.

You might also note that Germany's version of Christian conservatism is light years ahead of the Asian version of that word.

David: Assessing the situation objectively, the voices of the progressives in the party will certainly be contained and even totally shut off.

Therefore, remaining in the ulama-controlled party is a waste of all the efforts done thus far by Mat Sabu and friends.

It has to be reminded that 51 percent of Malaysians, especially non-Malays, voted for PAS because they believed and supported the progressives in PAS.

Forget about the ulama and their ideologies, staying on in PAS is a dead end. Leave the ulama to dance with Umno and they will most likely still be in a daze when they lose Kelantan in GE14.

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