Category: PAS

By Terence Netto
Jun 8, 11 | MalaysiaKini

COMMENT The comments that emanated from Umno on the outcome of the PAS elections last weekend yet again demonstrated that when it comes to a discussion of ideas, their commentary is bereft.

Its crappy tone hit a nadir when Dr Mahathir Mohamad speculated that the person most elated with the results of the PAS elections would be DAP chairperson Karpal Singh.

Trust Mahathir to squeeze the soft underbelly of DAP-PAS relations by dredging up a remark made by Karpal in the prelude to the 1999 general elections – that Malaysia could only become a Islamic state over his dead body – to remind voters of how far PAS had now come in abandoning its Islamic state goal to appease the secularists in DAP.

In a long career politicians are allowed a rash comment or two, provided the person apologises as Karpal did. Continue reading “PAS’ welfare state goal is debatable”

By Yow Hong Chieh
June 06, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang slammed Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir today for claiming that the PAS party poll results show that the DAP and PKR have influenced the Islamist party into sidelining its ulama faction.

Lim said the Umno Youth executive councillor’s “wild, baseless and irrational” claims were proof that no one in Umno or Barisan Nasional (BN) could live up to the aspirations of young Malaysians, who wanted a better Malaysia after “lost decades” under the ruling coalition’s rule.

Mukhriz (picture) said on Saturday that the rise of the professional, or Erdogan, faction in PAS’s top leadership showed that the party now only championed the multi-racial line of its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners and no longer fought for the Islamic state. Continue reading “Kit Siang: Mukhriz’s PAS polls claim shows BN cannot change”

Comment by Zainon Ahmad
6 June 2011 | Sun2Surf

KUALA LUMPUR (June 5, 2011): IF the late nationalist Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy — PAS’s third president who did much to turn the Umno breakaway into a strong party with its own identity and ideology — were alive today he would probably be pleased with this year’s muktamar.

He would be happy to note that the delegates to the muktamar had no qualms at all about criticizing ulamas for their unwillingness to encourage progressive thinking among Muslims in the country. Continue reading “PAS dynamism is restored”

Should I gnash my teeth and pull my hair out in anger and frustration at Utusan Malaysia’s “garbage of all garbage” write-up accusing me of being a mastermind in PAS party elections?

Or should I just dismiss it with all the contempt which all calumny, lies and falsehoods deserve?

Indeed a classic “do not know whether to laugh or cry” situation!

Penned by Utusan editors hiding behind the pseudonym Awang Selamat, the “garbage of all garbage” must be read by all Malaysians to forewarn them of the terminal mental disease condition afflicting certain powerful personalities walking the corridors of power in the Najib Razak administration. Hence it is quoted in full as follows: Continue reading “To laugh or cry at Utusan Malaysia’s “garbage of all garbage” write-up today accusing me of being a mastermind in PAS party elections?”

By Sheridan Mahavera
June 05, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

ANALYSIS – June 5 — The election of veteran activists, parliamentarians, state administrators and think tank experts into the top PAS leadership has appeared to put the party on a firm war footing.

This line-up of Mohamed Sabu as the PAS deputy president and vice-presidents Salahuddin Ayub, Datuk Husam Musa and Datuk Mahfuz Omar is expected to not only stand shoulder to shoulder with allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) but it is said that they want to spearhead the coalition in its march to Putrajaya.

Their election perhaps speaks of the party’s changing membership and support base, and the rank-file’s desire to see the party move beyond an Islamist movement to a national-level ruling party. Continue reading “Will PAS’s new dream team be Umno’s nightmare?”

By The Malaysian Insider
June 04, 2011

JUNE 4 — Beyond the headlines in the past few days, some interesting facts and storylines have been thrown up by the PAS elections. These include:

Lesson Number 1: For all the stereotyping of PAS as a party of backward religious types, these elections have shown that the Islamic political party is committed to democratic principles.

In the months before the polls, it was clear that this was going to be a tough and possibly acrimonious polls between the religious class and the progressives. Some argued that the PAS leadership should have postponed the bruising elections in view of coming general elections.

No way.

PAS went ahead with the party elections, believing that electing leaders is a crucial part of democracy. Unlike Umno who has postponed its party elections for fear of infighting. Unlike the MCA which has also postponed its party election. Continue reading “Some lessons from PAS muktamar”

By Bridget Welsh
Jun 4, 11 | MalaysiaKini

COMMENT There was a sense of excitement in the air in Gombak this morning as the results of the PAS party polls were announced. It is a truly historic day for PAS and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

Stalwart Mohamed Sabu (right) defeated his two contenders for the deputy position (by 21 votes), three non-ulama leaders – Salahudin Ayub, Mahfuz Omar and Husam Musa – were elected vice-presidents, and non-ulama leaders secured two-thirds (12 out of 18) of the slots in the party’s central committee.

The progressive forces in PAS has secured a major victory, overturning the Terengganu dominance of the party. This is the first non-ulama leadership team – except for Abdul Hadi Awang of course – since the 1982 coup against nationalist PAS president Mohamad Asri Muda, where it was stated that there should never be non-ulama leaders occupying the top posts. Continue reading “Victory of the ‘Erdogans’ bodes well for Pakatan”

By Kow Gah Chie & Salhan K Ahmad
Jun 4, 11 | MalaysiaKini

Newly-elected PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said that he will take the mandate to place the Islamic party in the national mainstream by appealing to non-Malays and non-Muslims.

This, he said, is especially important in light of the upcoming general election.

“You can’t win elections just on the back of Malay support. I will endeavour to garner more support from non-Muslims using the Pakatan Rakyat platform,” said the popular grassroots leader.

Considering himself “lucky to have garnered grassroots support” in the three-way fight, the Penangite believes that he can strengthen the Islamic party’s relationship with Pakatan Rakyat. Continue reading “‘Lucky’ Mat Sabu aims to take PAS to wider audience”

By Aidila Razak | Jun 3, 11
Malaysiakini

PAS today vowed to use “every ounce of their energy” to defend the four Pakatan Rakyat states from returning to the BN in the next general election.

“Let us all vow to defend Kelantan, Kedah, Selangor and Penang which we have governed together, with every once of our energy; let our sweat soak the earth, with high spirits and through God’s will, we will defend our victory,” said its president Abdul Hadi Awang.
Continue reading “PAS vows to defend Pakatan states”