by Terence A Anthony
Originally published for Greater Malaysia, May 2015
Note: Pakatan Rakyat was the only real alternative we have to the current ruling coalition. However, since its inception, the party was rife with contradictions. You had one centre-right (?) party, one social democratic party and an Islamist party, that openly flirts with fundamentalism.
When the coalition broke down, their supporters were worried of their representation in governance. How will issues get passed now? Instead of going down the gloomy track, I decided to look what the remaining parties can salvage.
Pakatan is no more. What used to be a union between three distinct parties to take down a common enemy, now have each other in their sights. The rift between DAP and PAS is too big to ignore. However, this need not end in a sombre note. Out of this break up, there are many benefits DAP and PKR can use to turn the situation to their own benefit.
A Principally Consistent Opposition
Despite being the only alternative against BN, there were many questions on PR’s alliance of convenience. DAPs secular principles have always been at odds with PAS’s Islamic State vision. PAS’s insistence on enacting hudud law has made the ranks in DAP uncomfortable.
This also became a barrier for many progressives in the country. Many voted PR out of the sheer fact that they are the only alternative but behind their head, fears of hudud law was still lingering. While PAS kept insisting that hudud law was only for Muslims and will not affect the life of non-Muslims, DAP was still not happy about it.
Among supporters of DAP, many worry that the creation of a new set of laws for Muslims would mean that there will be a double standard between citizens. Aside from that, critics also argue that hudud law’s principle of having 4 female witnesses to be the equivalent of one male puts women’s rights on a back seat. While the federal constitution has clearly spelt out that punishments for crimes can only be spelt out by the federal government, this did not stop Kelantan insistence. The active pursuit is enough to trouble secularism-inclined PR members.
That chase for enacting God’s law has created a principle rift between two contrasting ideas. With both ideologues no longer contrasting each other, both parties are now free to work within the confines of their principles. They no longer need to pretend to accommodate each other. Efforts to cover up squabbles between parties can be focussed on more important and pertinent issues. At least now, their principle stance is consistent.
DAP No Longer Needs to Compete with PAS for seats (Vice-Versa)
It is unfortunate that PR, there still has no clear delineation where should PAS not compete in and DAP should. This has led to inner fighting on where their party members can contest. Overlapping interests has caused both parties wanting to compete for the same seat.
However from the fact they are a coalition, they are supposed to work with each other and not against each other. The unfortunate result is that some competent party members have to back down and contest elsewhere. This has led to multiple accusations against each other. When one party blocks out a seat for themselves, the other party will claim the other is blocking out their potential.
The irony in this quarrel is the implied racial tensions between the two. While never stated explicitly, one can always draw to conclusions that DAP will be resigned to contest in non-Malay majority areas while PAS, on the basis that Malays are Muslims, contest in Malay areas.
There is no denying that votes will be split in three way fights in the future. However, a comparative needs to be made. If DAP is free to contest in whatever area they wish to do so, they could overcome the perception of racial bias. They could contest in Malay-majority areas without having PAS as the rallying point. If they were to win in that constituency, then more points to their multi-cultural agenda, proving that Malays would be willing to vote for them. This sheds light on how they are not just a Chinese only party.
More Appealing in East Malaysia
There is no denying that PAS has a hard time in East Malaysia. While DAP wins in urban areas with huge majorities, PAS’s track record isn’t that shiny. PAS’s Islamic State stance does not have the same appeal in West Malaysia due to the East’s demographic. The majority of Sabahans and Sarawakians are not Muslim and judging from their support for Christians in the “Allah” issue, even Muslims were more accepting of different cultures.
It is true that the high-ranking officials of PAS were in the support of Christians using “Allah” in reference to God, but they still have not shed away perceptions of ultra-conservatism. (One needs to note that the alternative could possibly conservatism of the Christian branch instead. We can see how that branch of conservatism can also be fundamentalist in the Phillippines or the American South.) This association of PAS with ultra-conservativism or Islamic fundamentalism is an unfortunate reality that PR had to face. This baggage is also carried onto them, with many saying a vote for PR equates to a vote for PAS.
Though PAS’s action of putting the goals of their religion as priority is a legitimate personal choice, they have to deal with the reality that they are perceived to be ultra conservative. Removing PAS from the equation would mean that Sabahans and Sarawakians who do not associate themselves with PAS’s bigger goals would be more willing to vote for DAP in the future. How big this of an impact is, is still not guaranteed though.
This Could Put the Brakes on Extreme Islamic Fundamentalism
In the recent Cooler Lumper Festival, Marina Mahathir said that “No, I don’t think we’ll be a Taliban state yet; we’ll be a stupid state first.” While the statement was made in reference to gold medallist Farah Ann Abdul Hadi’s attire, one could not ignore her Taliban remark.
In the past few UMNO general assemblies, Shiites have been the target and calls for Sunni Islam to be the enshrined in the constitution have been made. Bibles containing the word “Allah” have been confiscated and the Catholic Herald got into trouble for their Bahasa Malaysia section.
Malaysia in recent years have been perceived as getting closer to Islamic Fundamentalism and ignoring how progressive ideas can co-exist with Islam. This then begs the questions, what is the cause of such extremist attitudes and why has it been popular in recent years?
One theory suggests that this is about the competition for Malay votes, due to the virtue that all Malays are Muslims. As PR gained traction in the recent GEs, PAS became a significant contributor for Malay votes. Unlike what the name “Chinese Tsunami” implies, voters also consisted of large number of Malays voting for the coalition via PAS. UMNO, seeing this as threat, starts framing themselves as the more Islamic party and the saviour of Islam.
This puts the two parties at odds with each other. This is however an unintended consequence of PAS being perceived as a threat that could subsume UMNO’s main voter base. UMNO’s fears were not unfounded. They lost the Malay heartland; Kedah to PAS in 2008.
More proof to see that this is a recent occurrence is the split amongst prominent UMNO members. On one hand, there is Zahid Hamidi who strongly stands behind the Catholic Herald’s ban on using th word “Allah”. On the other side of the spectrum, we have the more progressive side like Khairy Jamaluddin and Saifuddin Abdullah, showing shades of UMNO’s past. Whether the split was done intentional or not, is a different issue but one can infer that it is done out of pandering the Malay demographic that are looking for a body that could safeguard their religion.
With DAP no longer backing PAS, PAS has to stand on its own. UMNO has less of a reason to see them as a threat and can now focus on other issues. Whether ultra-conservatism will be reduced when a weakened, battered PAS stands alone is another issue but at least this gives UMNO less the incentive to go on this “holier than thou” campaign.
So how does this benefit DAP? This also means that DAP no longer need to pay attention in the religious squabble between the two. No longer will they have to face accusations that they are non-Muslims who are trying to dictate Islam. At least now when bickering occurs, it will be focussed on actual policy instead. The bigger irony is that probably UMNO needs that more than any other.
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