SHAH ALAM, Feb 19 — With dwindling Malay Muslim support, PAS today affirmed its commitment to prioritise the dominant Islamic race in the country.
PAS spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat claimed that the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition partner had never forsaken Malay rights and that it was Umno’s economic policies which had caused division and unequal distribution among various races in Malaysia.
“For PAS, Malays need to be prioritised in our agenda because they are the dominant Islamic race in Malaysia.
“Umno has not been upholding Islam or the Malays,” he said today during an opening address at a PAS convention on empowering Malays here.
The convention aims to silence critics who have derided the party for being anti-Malay in aligning themselves with the DAP.
Nik Aziz said that while Islam was not race-based, as an Islamic party in Malaysia, PAS would prioritise Malays because they were the country’s foremost Muslim community.
The Kelantan Mentri Besar claimed that the New Economic Policy (NEP), which was supposed to help the Malays, had failed to achieve its purpose.
“The NEP was used for Umno’s interests. A systematic betrayal was done on the Indians, Chinese, Ibans, other races..the end result of the NEP was the creation and flourishing of Umno “Ketuanan Melayu” cronies,” said Nik Aziz, referring to the concept of Malay Supremacy.
The convention today, dubbed “Konvensyen Nasional Pengupayaan Bangsa” (National Race Empowerment Convention) is seen as PAS’ attempt to attract Malay voter support which has been declining in recent years.
PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar said today that the convention will address the “baseless” accusations that have been hurled against PR states.
“This convention is done to convince Malays and Bumiputras that PAS and PR will defend their rights. This convention will solidify PAS’s guarantee on Malay rights, Bumiputra and also Islam and how we defend it based on the Federal Constitution,” said the Pokok Sena MP.
Mahfuz said Malays needed to be aware of the fact that the steady erosion of their rights for decades was done by Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) and not PAS.
The convention will be attended by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, who will issue a list of the party’s guarantees to the Bumiputera community in his keynote address later.
PR has seen a decline in Malay support since July 2009, when a by-election in the 99 per cent Malay seat of Manek Urai, Kelantan saw a previous 1,352-vote majority in the PAS stronghold drop to a wafer-thin 65.
Malays continued to swing towards Barisan Nasional (BN) in subsequent polls, from around seven to 10 per cent, allowing the ruling coalition to grab Hulu Selangor and Galas from PR.
The most recent by-election in Tenang, Johor, saw PR fail to make any headway among the mainly Felda Malays as BN swept over 83 per cent of Malay votes to increase its majority by over 1,200 votes.
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