(The Malaysian Insider) KOTA BARU, June 12 — PAS leaders have admitted that the Islamist party has not been able to garner enough Malay support compared to its political foe Umno.PAS National Unity chairman Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said the party was losing support among the Malays, but blamed the mainstream media for portraying a misconceived image of the party which served the interests of Umno.
“PAS is losing support among the Malays...Maybe PAS has not done enough (to attract Malay support.)
“But the fact is we are being attacked by the mainstream media as not fighting for the Malays, which is not true,” Dr Mujahid told The Malaysian Insider last night.
The Parit Buntar MP said PAS needed to do more to explain to Malays that their rights would not be eroded if the Islamist party or Pakatan Rakyat (PR) were to take over Putrajaya.
“The party needs to do more to remind Malays that if PAS were to take over, their rights, Islam as an official religion and the sanctity of the Malay language would be preserved...it will still be intact, nothing will change,” he said.
Dr Mujahid’s remarks come amid warnings by PAS state delegates today to the party leadership to not abandon Malay voters in its drive to woo non-Muslims.
The issue of PAS’ recent move to form a new wing, the PAS Supporters’ Congress which was expected to be a hotly contested issue became the focal point of discussion today during the debate on president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s policy speech.
“I do not want us to make a mistake in our chase and pursuit of non-Malays that we forget Malay voters, who are our original support base,” said Kelantan delegate Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah.
Mohd Amar said that although PAS had been making inroads among the non-Muslims, Umno has been using this as a means to instil hatred and confusion among Malays in rural areas.
“PAS’ relationship with non-Muslims is being used by Umno to sway Malays in rural areas and kampungs, and they do not know about these things, they don’t understand,” said Mohd Amar who is also Kelantan PAS deputy commissioner.
But Dr Mujahid insisted that party delegates’ grouses had nothing to do with the formation of the non-Muslim wing.
“Its not about the congress. Non-Malays lately are understanding PAS, coming closer to us.
“Non-Muslims in PAS is not an issue. Party delegates are merely concerned about Malay votes.”
Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad said that the situation needed to be put back to the correct context as the Islamist party never had the majority support among Malays to begin with.
“We have to put it back to the right context. We have never had majority Malay support to begin with,” said Khalid.
He told The Malaysian Insider that the party needed to make its members understand how they needed to win both the votes of Malay-Muslims as well as non-Muslims.
“Giving rights or appealing to other races does not mean you are giving away the rights of Malays,” said Khalid.
The PAS annual general assembly which began yesterday saw the 15-member representation from the PAS supporters’ congress present during the debate on the PAS president’s policy speech.
The Malaysian Insider understands that a representative from the congress will speak today at the AGM.
“K.Deepakaran, secretary for the congress will speak. One of the points he will raise is that the formation of the non-Muslim congress is not to contest with the other wings of PAS,” said the congress chairman Hu Pang Chaw.
Hu claimed that the discontent about PAS’ focus on non-Muslim votes did not reflect the sentiments of the entire party.
“I understand the feeling, but it is just a minority. If majority of the party felt like that, the congress won’t be be alive today,” he said.
Hu told The Malaysian Insider that PAS understood the need for a new “political thinking” and that its inclusion of non-Muslims showed an improvement for the Islamic party.
“If they solely concentrate on Malay votes, they have no where to go.
“Actually there is no clash. The goals for Malays and non-Malay support are different,” said Hu.
The PAS supporters’ congress chairman said that PAS’ acceptance of non-Muslims was a sign of “new hope” for the Islamist party.
“We provide a two-way link between PAS and the non-Muslim society,” quipped Hu.
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