GEORGE TOWN – It will be difficult to dislodge PAS from its hold on rural Malaysia as the national unity bloc of Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) has not paid adequate attention to grassroots politics, said a former PKR senior leader.
This means PAS’ hold on rural Malaysian politics is here to stay for a foreseeable future unless PH-BN goes back to the basics, said Penang PKR’s Jason Ong.
Both PH and BN were born out of grassroots activism but over the past decades, in particular, PH, has become rigid and bureaucratic after tasting power since 2018, he said.
It is made even more complicated as PAS is the only party in the country to have resorted to fielding religious figures (ulama) as candidates, unlike other parties including PKR.
“Imagine if Christians have fielded pastors or Buddhists with their monks or Hindus with their high priests. The followers of such religions would be inclined to support their religious officials. The same applies to Muslims,” said Ong, a former Penang PKR vice-chairman.
Also, PAS has made it a gold standard in being active in grassroots politics to the extent that in every rural Muslim congregation, there are PAS members or supporters, said Ong.
It is acceptable if PAS plays on the same playing field with other parties, but on the contrary, it is a party that has firmly entrenched itself in the politics of race and religion – believing that in Islam, which is a way of life, there is no separation between politics and religion.
With the current polarisation level in the country, PAS has only widened the divide, making it difficult for multi-ethnic parties such as PKR to survive in the politics of race and religion, said Ong in an interview.
He said that the divide which PAS espouses has also crept into the state civil service here.
Ong acknowledged the presence of some uncooperative civil servants in the state government but their apparent disloyalty to PH-BN had not caused the coalition votes in the last state election here.
Their disdain for the PH-led government may not be apparent or have caused PH votes, but it may undermine the coalition big time in the future if it goes unchecked now, said Ong.
Earlier, some veteran PKR officials informed The Vibes that civil servants, who were suspected to be operatives of a “deep government” network, had tarnished the state’s delivery system, particularly in areas of the administration of Islam.
“Those who were previously blacklisted as religious officials but who were then given a reprieve by the previous administration. But they went on to indirectly support the opposition by working with Perikatan Nasional (PN) instead,” the officials said.
Former Batu Maung assemblyman Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim said that he was made aware of such claims, but it cannot be singled out as the cause of why voters had strayed away from PH.
There are other contributing factors after almost a sweep in Penang in 2018 (PH won 37 out of the 40 state seats in that election), said Malik.
“There was complacency after a huge win. Our guard was down.”
Malik said that he does not share the view about uncooperative civil servants.
“For me, they follow us (the government of the day). If we move, they move.
“The slow performance of civil servants in Islamic affairs is because of the leadership itself. If we were aggressive, the officers would be aggressive. If we’re slow, they’ll be slower.”
Ong said that the Malay voters, including the young, had strayed from PH because they continued to feel insecure about DAP’s presence in PH.
“This is a fact. It is unfortunate that they fell for the propaganda and deceit,” he said. – The Vibes, August 25, 2023
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