KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB), or the New Hope Movement, is making waves with mass resignations from PAS divisions across the country, an analyst said.

However, political analyst Datuk Dr Redzuan Othman of Universiti Malaya (UM) said this would not last and the group must focus on remaining at the front and centre in politics.

“They have succeeded in making waves, but they can’t stop with that. They need to focus on their activities by explaining what they are fighting for,” Redzuan told The Malaysian Insider.

He said the resignations in PAS have left the party scrambling to stem the tide.

“PAS is panicking. That’s why we are seeing a lot of responses from PAS,” said Redzuan, the former director of the UM Centre for Democracy and Elections or UMcedel.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had previously likened the splinter group to sulking children, and predicted that they would eventually return to the party’s fold.

He said their resignations had helped spring-clean the party and claimed he was happy with the turn of events.

But PAS’ recent action indicates otherwise — the party has gone on overdrive as it tries to counter the exodus.

In its meeting last month, the Selangor PAS liaison committee decided to mount a membership recruitment drive to prove that many still wanted to join PAS.

The committee decided that each PAS division in the state must recruit 500 new members, with every branch roping in at least 15 new members and each division committee member recruiting five.

The campaign is to culminate in the “Perhimpunan Istiqamah Hingga Kemenangan” (Pihak 13.0) gathering on Sept 13, three days before GHB launches its new party, Amanah.

Pihak 13.0 will be held in Banting, Selangor, to show that PAS is not affected by GHB, the meeting decided.

GHB supporters have begun stepping down from their posts in PAS, but have remained as party members pending the formation of Amanah.

It began with Kota Raja PAS last Wednesday, followed by the Shah Alam division members the same night, and Kelana Jaya on Sunday.

In Johor, 91 committee members of the Gelang Patah division and its branches quit their posts on Sunday.

Six committee members of Batu Gajah PAS resigned from their posts on Monday.

They will remain as PAS members until their membership automatically terminates upon joining the new party, to be announced on Aug 31 and officially launched on Sept 16. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on August 27, 2015.