How one Islamist party could sway Malaysia’s election
The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party finds itself courted by former friends and foes, including Mahathir Mohamad and Prime Minister Najib Razak, as it emerges as a potentially deciding force in an upcoming national election
Malaysia’s biggest Islamist party, long a whipping post for the country’s liberals, is finding itself newly popular with former rivals and estranged allies as it emerges as a potential kingmaker in upcoming general elections.
Due to its hardline brand of Islam, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) has traditionally had an uneasy relationship with the country’s non-Muslim communities, such as the ethnic Chinese and Indians, but the deep influence it has enjoyed with the majority Malay community since it was founded in 1951 could make it a deciding force in the national polls, widely expected this year.
Rural Malay seats are likely to be the key battleground in those polls, in which two coalition parties – the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) and the Pakatan Harapan (Hope Coalition) – will be the main contenders.
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Leaders of both coalitions are working behind the scenes to curry favour with the PAS, as the Islamist party gears up for a rally this weekend in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in a show of strength to convince the public it is still an influential political player.
The PAS left the Hope Coalition in 2015 and became independent after a fellow coalition member, the secular Democratic Action Party, protested against its campaign to introduce a Muslim penal code called hudud. A senior leader of the Democratic Action Party – which is popular with ethnic Chinese voters – recently signalled a willingness to mend ties with the PAS, while former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, long known for his criticisms of the PAS’ ultra-conservatism, has also appeared to change tack.
Mahathir’s party, the Malaysian Indigenous People’s Party, or Bersatu, is allied to the Hope Coalition and is now leading negotiations for an electoral pact with PAS in an effort to oust the National Front and its scandal-tainted chairman, Prime Minister Najib Razak. But Najib, too, is thought to be working behind the scenes to influence the PAS, leading to questions over where its loyalties lie.
