KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 10): On a roll after its strong showing in the 15th general election, PAS, which has dominated the more rural east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu with its Islamist agenda and put up a strong showing in Kedah, is pushing towards the more urban west coast states in the upcoming state polls by singing a slightly different tune — one that emphasises racial harmony and unity.

Flipping through a physical copy of PAS constitution, the party’s central committee member Dr Halimah Ali was eager to explain that should Perikatan Nasional — a coalition led by her party and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia or Bersatu in short — be given the mandate to govern states like Selangor and Penang, leaders from the Islamic party will ensure rights of non-Muslims are preserved, citing its track record in Kelantan.

“We in PAS are quite broad-minded, actually. Perpaduan (unity) is in the constitution of PAS,” said the Kapar member of Parliament during a recent interview with The Edge at her office.

“So, we have no problems with [different] races,” she said, pointing to a couple of clauses in the party’s constitution that talk about its aims to create a society and government that implement Islamic values and laws, and which defend the sacrality of the religion as well as the nation’s sovereignty, while fostering a sense of unity among citizens without neglecting the responsibility of upholding justice for all Malaysians.

Using PAS’ stronghold of Kelantan — where PN had a clean sweep of all 14 parliamentary seats in GE15, with over 50% voter support in 13 of them — as an example, Halimah said although the state’s non-Muslim community is only about 5% of its population, the state government has preserved their rights in religion and daily lives, including maintaining Chinese temples and providing designated places for consumption of pork and alcohol.

Outside Kelantan, Dr Halimah pointed to her own track record as a two-term state assemblywoman for Selat Kelang in Selangor previously, during which she said she steered clear of interfering with the daily lives of residents in Pulau Ketam, where the majority of its population is Chinese.

“We acknowledge their differences and different backgrounds. But we have got one same objective — that is to administer Malaysia through good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability. It is not just talk, we have to walk the talk,” she said.

She also thinks PAS leaders are capable of self-governance without having to rely on the scrutiny of agencies like the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), as they practise Islamic values as a way of life.

“It is not just sembahyang (prayers) and rituals, it is our way of life. That means integrity — we don’t need MACC. PAS doesn’t need MACC or the people or the bosses to look at you. Because we know that God is keeping a record.

“It is not just when you are in the mosque or when you fast that God is with you; other than that, you forget about God. That is the secularism kind of temptation,” she said, adding that the embezzlements at 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and the RM9 billion procurement of six littoral combat ships a decade ago that has yet to produce a single ship occurred because leaders do not practise Islamic values in their jobs.

Although she acknowledged that there are instances of illegal logging in Kelantan after 33 years of PAS rule, Dr Halimah dismissed them as less serious compared to those that happened in Selangor.

She also claimed that PAS is more principled and dares to call out what is right and wrong.

“Irrespective of whether people like it or not, (PAS is) principle-centred. We do not censor what we say just because we want to try to please one community or voters — we won't. When we say it is haram (forbidden), it is haram even if 99.99% of the people do not like [us saying] it.

“Just like corruption — you cannot celebrate people and appoint people to a high position when you know they are doing or have done haram things,” she said.

PAS has been calling for the rejection of BN-Umno, which is led by Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing a graft trial involving the alleged misappropriation of funds from a charitable foundation he set up. He was charged in October 2018, shortly after Pakatan Harapan toppled Barisan Nasional, of which Umno is the lynchpin, from the federal administration in Putrajaya.

PAS, who then aligned itself with Umno under the Muafakat Nasional alliance formed in September 2019,  did not view Ahmad Zahid’s corruption case an issue at the time, as PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang signed a cooperation agreement with Zahid at the Putra World Trade Centre to counter the very strong PH at the time.

But the allies had a fallout right before GE15 in 2022, when PAS decided to go with Bersatu-led PN and abandoned Umno, citing unresolved bribery cases and claiming the party was greedy for power. The strategic move paid off, with PAS winning the most seats in the federal polls.

PAS must convey a clear policy in governing the west coast states to woo voters who are hesitant to choose PN, said Universiti Malaya’s Dr Mohammad Tawfik Yaakob, given all PN states are currently led by PAS leaders as the menteri besar, and PAS has yet to demonstrate that it could effectively address local issues, such as clean water supply, economic development and lack of employment opportunities — as seen in Kelantan.

Mohammad Tawfik, who is with UM’s Department of Political Science, said the Islamist party needs to have clear plans of what it plans to do in Selangor, the country’s most populous and affluent state where the political culture, lifestyle and economic activities are vastly different from its stronghold states.

And its electorate is also vastly different. While Malays are the dominant group at 53.9% of voters in Selangor, other ethnic groups are sizable, with  31.4% Chinese and 13.8% Indian, followed by 0.9% others.

The economic contribution of the PAS-led governments in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu last year is small compared to Penang and Selangor, according to data by the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

Kelantan’s gross domestic product (GDP) to the nation’s economy last year was the smallest among the three states PAS controls at 1.8%, while Kedah's was 3.4% and Terengganu's 2.5%. Selangor’s GDP contribution was the highest at 25.5%, while Penang recorded 7.4%. Negeri Sembilan’s GDP contribution was 3.4%

“If PAS still points fingers at the federal government when it fails to address local issues [like in Kelantan], then it does not seem fit to govern [other] states,”  Mohammad Tawfiq said.

Dr Mazlan Ali, a political analyst with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, predicts that if PAS makes inroads in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang, the Islamist party will push for the same style of administration as in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.

"If PAS said it will not close down the sin industry like gambling, prevent the selling of beer and so on... well, we already know that PAS has banned the sin industry in Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan, which are governed by them,” said Mazlan, who remains doubtful that the Islamic party could tolerate the industry.

With support for the party firmly entrenched in the east coast and seemingly so in the northern state of Kedah as well, it will be interesting to see if urbanites on the west coast will buy into the idea of having political leaders who think they are only answerable to God.

Visit this link for everything about the State Polls 2023.