Why PAS is hunkering down in Kelantan while former allies form new huddle

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Now on its own, PAS’s 60,000-strong gathering at the Sultan Muhammad IV stadium in Kelantan today is crucial for the Islamist party as it seeks to convince its supporters that it has not been affected by Pakatan Rakyat’s breakup and the formation of splinter group Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).

The gathering, dubbed “Himpunan Fastaqim-H60k” will also serve as a platform for PAS to reassert its identity as a Malay-Muslim party and to remind its supporters that it is prepared to go into the next general election alone, and that it will no longer make any compromises on issues related to Islam such as hudud.

“What is important for this gathering is for our members to listen to the leadership, so that they can outline the party’s direction and future given the current developments,” PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

The Temerloh MP, who is the event’s organising secretary, said today’s gathering will also commemorate PAS’ 25-year rule in Kelantan, and that thousands of members from states throughout peninsular Malaysia have already pledged their attendance.

“This gathering will enable members to huddle together and to boost our spirit to fight for PAS. It is also so that we can prepare spiritually, mentally and physically for the 14th general election,” he added.

The previous three-party pact known as Pakatan Rakyat collapsed earlier this year after founding partners DAP and PAS refused to speak to each other.

Coupled with the PAS central leadership’s increasingly conservative stand, a group that styled itself as moderate Islamists subsequently broke away from the party after losing their seats in the main council for form Amanah.

Analysts like Dr Oh Ei Sun believe that the gathering comes at a much-needed time for PAS as it needs to remind its core supporters in the Malay heartlands that it hasn’t forgotten about the issue of Islam and the plight of the community.

“In recent years, PAS has perhaps ‘strayed’ too far afield into urban constituencies, and in the process had to make compromises with the more liberal DAP and PKR, much to the chagrin of its traditional support base.

“So this is a timely reminder that PAS cares about its roots,” the senior fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University told Malay Mail Online in an email interview.

Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs CEO Wan Saiful Wan Jan said today’s gathering is PAS’s way of showing that it still commands support within the party despite the defection of some of its more progressive leaders to Amanah.

“They want to show that they can still bring in the numbers. They are trying to bring together people who are still supportive of PAS to show that it exists and that it is not alone,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Wan Saiful pointed out that the venue choice in Kelantan itself was not by chance and is an attempt by PAS to show that it still has strong control over the state despite a fractious party election some months back.

“They are trying to regroup, to gather their forces, the fact is they are doing it in Kelantan because many top guns in Kelantan have left for Amanah,” he explained.

Merdeka Center director Ibrahim Suffian echoed Wan Saiful’s remarks, saying that gathering is probably driven by PAS’s desire to show that it still has some semblance of popular support after the internal split.

“I suppose they need to reassure themselves that they are still okay after the split with the progressives,” he said when contacted, referring to the faction that later formed Amanah.

Dr Ooi Kee Beng, deputy director of the Singapore-based Institute of Southeast Asian Studies’ Yusof Ishak Institute believes that events like the Bersih 4 rally last August seemed to have set a standard for other parties like PAS to use a show of numbers as a sign of encouragement for their supporters.

“The trend continues the Malaysian habit of taking melodramatic action to lift spirits and to claim relevance,” he told Malay Mail Online in an email interview.

This afternoon’s rally is scheduled to start at 4pm and end at midnight.