PAS-Umno unity gov't not an option

PAS-Umno unity gov't not an option
Sim Kwang Yang Jun 11, 09 4:06pm
A Chinese lady journalist wrote about her puzzlement with PAS in a column in the Chinese language the Oriental Daily.She was at the PAS Muktamar covering the proceedings, watching the gathering of PAS delegates from all corners of the country. What she saw and heard made her shake her head and sigh unhappy sighs.Here was a political party that the Chinese had shied away from for many decades. Finally, during the March 8 general election last year, the Chinese voters had overcome their psychological barrier and voted for this Islamist party en masse.During the by-election in Perak, even the most conservative Chinese villagers hung the PAS flags, to show their displeasure at the BN tactic in changing power in the silver state.Then, during the Muktamar, PAS elites showed the hegemonic sectarian side that they shared with the much vilified Umno!Before entering the meeting venue, lady reporters were told to wear some kind of head gear. They were told to sit separately from their male counterparts inside the meeting hall.Then they heard a call from a delegate to maintain the 30 percent quota for Bumiputra. Worse still, they heard the party president Hadi Awang proposing a unity government with Umno!What is the difference between PAS and Umno, she asked.At the crossroadsThe PAS Muktamar that has just ended has indeed triggered off a tsunami of commentaries. There is a kind of unsaid consensus that the party's highest decision making body is far from conclusive in determining their future direction.It remains stuck at a crossroads.The division between the Ulamas and the professionals among the PAS leadership may be arbitrary and simplistic, but it is useful.If that be the case, then neither side won in the party election.Nasharuddin Mat Isa might have won the race for the post of Deputy President, but that was because his opponents' votes had been split two ways between two other contenders.If one of his two opponents had withdrawn, the results would have been different.Then again, it is hard to put any label on Nasharuddin. As Brigit Welsh wrote in her Malaysiakini article Change for PAS or PAS for change:"More important, labels and outlooks are changing within PAS. Consider the victor in the deputy presidency race, Nasharuddin Mat Isa. Only four years ago, when he was elected in 2005, he was touted as the leader of the ‘progressives'. Today, he was labelled as the defender of the ulama, the voice of conservatism."Nasharuddin's political identity remains unclear, as it is being shaped by forces within the party and the rapidly changing political environment in Malaysia rather than driven by a fixed outlook."Indeed, the overall impression of the latest PAS Muktamar is a party in the process of evolution, stumbling along amidst the changing parameters of a new political reality in Malaysia.You still hear the old conservative voice of the past, in the form of an undebated motion calling for the ban on Sisters in Islam. Sisters in Islam is one of the most respected Islamic NGO in our country, and such a call to ban them is nothing less than barbaric!But the most contentious issue has to be the call by PAS President Hadi Awang - supported by his Deputy Nasharuddin - for continuing talk with Umno.Act of betrayalOf course PAS is free to talk to anybody in a free exchange of views on any subject. But if PAS talks to Umno on the basis of pursuing the "unity of the fellow faithful", then PAS is launched on a journey of no-return towards self-destruction.Worse still, it will lead to the disintegration of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, and any hope of realising a two coalition system in Malaysia!The other two PR coalition partners, DAP and PKR, are understandably disturbed. When PAS top leaders hold secret talk with their common arch enemy Umno, it is an act of betrayal. There is no other name for it.The idea of PAS holding talks with Umno in secret is a bizarre one, if you know the long and bitter rivalry between these two parties over the past half century. The whole things smacks of backroom horse-trading, short term gain, and narrow sectarian agenda taking centre stage.PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Mat Nik Aziz has openly rubbished the idea of such clandestine talks, and so have a number of delegates at the Muktamar. The deputy president, Nasharuddin, rubbished back, saying his spiritual leader was merely voicing his personal opinion.What kind of spiritual leader has Nik Aziz been made out to be?So we return to the question posed by the lady journalist at the beginning of this article. What is the difference between PAS and Umno?Orchestrated speechesIn an Umno general assembly, all the speeches are well orchestrated beforehand. When the Umno youth chief raised his Keris, everyone cheered. Their race-speak and religion-speak has only one voice.In PAS Muktamar, we hear a plurality of voices. Though one delegate spoke in defence of the 30 percent Bumiputra quota, you also have Khalid Samad attacking the idea as an Umno mindset.Delegates spoke openly against the president's proposal for a unity government.Obviously, PAS is much more inclusive and more democratic than Umno. They seem far less ‘monologic' than Umno precisely because they allow one hundred flowers to bloom.When that state of affair exists, you have to allow the proposal for talks with Umno to surface, no matter how silly it sounds.As long as the democratic process is in motion within PAS, there will always be the internal checks and balances in the party so that no single unreasonable proposal will come to dominate the party.That is the strength of PAS over Umno in the long run.Frankly, I am sceptical that the whole of PAS would take kindly to this unity talk nonsense. PAS has been betrayed before by Umno when they were in the BN coalition.Fight to the finishTheir massive grass-root members have fought Umno tooth and nail for decades in many fierce and ruthless battles. They have called each other such dirty names that will be etched in stone in our memory. Ideologically, they are poles apart.Eventually, these PAS leaders have to be reminded that they are not so high and mighty after all. They too are held hostage to fortune, as they are beholden not only to their members but to the entire multi-racial Malaysian electorate as well.As a mainstream political party, PAS is also a useful historical instrument for all Malaysians to bring about meaningful democratic change. We do not have to fear PAS.Instead, we should care about them and follow their every move and their future political direction.When some of their leaders seem to have lost sight of our common political objective of reformation, then it is our duty to stand forth and remind them of their duty to the rakyat who have voted them in the March 8 general election last year.Any proposal for a unity government between PAS and Umno is not an option! I repeat, the proposal is a sure road map for the self-destruction of PAS, and an act of treason against the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, and a betrayal against the Malaysian populace who harbour dreams of a better more democratic Malaysia!
SIM KWANG YANG was MP for Bandar Kuching between 1982 and 1995. He can be reached at Kenyalang 578@hotmail.com