KUALA LUMPUR: PAS now appears to be out in the cold for various programmes being organised by civil society and other opposition parties, following the break-up of Pakatan Rakyat, which was triggered by its decision to end ties with DAP.

The Islamist party has decided to organise its own version of a Bersih 4 rally after not being invited to be part of the plan for a mega rally on Aug 29.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said that the party would only be sending three representatives to Bersih 4 as it is not being spearheaded by them.

“We [have] decided to participate in Bersih, but this Bersih 4 is not headed by us. The agenda is not by us; it’s by others. So, we are only sending three from our side to the rally. We are not asking our members to join.

“We will have another gathering headed by PAS and we will invite others,” Abdul Hadi said during a speech in Ipoh on Sunday night.

Besides Bersih 4, the Islamist party has been cast aside in two other events, which were a meeting of opposition parties on July 29 and the handing over of a memorandum in support of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last Thursday.

On July 29, opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail called for a meeting among the opposition parties, but it was cancelled at the last minute as DAP said it did not want to attend the meeting if PAS was involved.

PAS decided to send three representatives to the meeting: deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, secretary-general Datuk Takiyudin Hassan and elections director Datuk Mustafa Ali.

The PAS leaders arrived at the PKR office in Petaling Jaya for the meeting, but found that it had been cancelled. 

Last Thursday, opposition leaders met at the MACC office to show moral support for the anti-graft agency, which was the target of police investigations in relation to 1Malaysia Development Bhd at the time.

The Malaysian Insider understands that PAS leaders were not informed nor invited to be part of the visit. This led to the Selangor PAS Youth wing going it alone by sending its own memorandum of support to the MACC on the next day.

Now, PAS has found itself being shunned from plans for Bersih 4.

While all opposition parties, including PAS splinter group Gerakan Harapan Baru, have been invited to plan the rally, PAS has been left out of it completely.

This raised questions on  whether PAS would participate in the rally.

PAS, as a highly disciplined and organised party at the grass-roots level, has also traditionally provided support with its Unit Amal (Volunteer Corp), which has helped to keep order and security in past rallies.

PAS leaders have been debating whether the party should officially endorse and lend support to Bersih 4 after being shunned.

The only PAS leader formally invited by Bersih 4 to the rally is Tuan Ibrahim.

Tuan Ibrahim announced in a PAS committee meeting last Saturday that the party would attend Bersih 4 and would send two representatives to meetings. But Abdul Hadi appeared to have overridden this, with a subsequent statement to clarify that PAS does not intend to mobilise its members for the rally, and would only send representatives instead. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on August 12, 2015.