Malaysia’s PAS wants unity, but on whose terms?

KOTA BHARU - At the 72nd annual congress of Malaysia’s opposition Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, UMNO Youth chief Akmal Saleh attended the opening ceremony of the party’s Youth wing on Sept 3 as a guest.

At the main party congress, or muktamar, the next day, UMNO secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki took his place on stage among the PAS leadership – and even waved the green PAS flag.

UMNO president Zahid Hamidi was expected to attend, but withdrew at the last minute for what PAS described as unavoidable reasons. Asyraf went in his place.

UMNO leaders have attended PAS’ muktamar before, during the period of Muafakat Nasional, the now-defunct political pact formed by the two parties in 2019.

Nevertheless, it would still have been difficult to imagine such a scene during the more bitter years of PAS-UMNO rivalry. 

Now, amid reciprocal invitations, with PAS preparing to send representatives to UMNO’s general assembly that kicks off on Sept 9, and PAS leaders saying that talks between the two have begun, the Malay-based parties are testing the boundaries of a relationship that has repeatedly swung between rivalry, cooperation and distrust.

The question is whether their renewed push for penyatuan ummah can overcome a fundamental problem: neither party appears willing to play second fiddle when it comes to Malay unity.

But who will lead?

For all the choreography around Malay unity, PAS president Hadi Awang did not mention UMNO in his presidential policy speech at the opening ceremony of the party’s annual congress on Sept 4.

Instead, the PAS president spoke in much broader terms: “PAS is ready to cooperate with any party on initiatives that benefit the nation, without compromising its core policies or foundational principles.”

Hadi’s message was essentially: we are open, but we are not looking for a leader.

His speech was uncompromising: “Every state assembly and parliamentary seat won in GE15 must be defended.”

PAS must also retain all four of its states and expand further into Pahang, Perak and Selangor, while also improving its performance in Melaka, Hadi added. 

The Islamist party is approaching any potential realignment from a position of considerable electoral strength. PAS won 43 parliamentary seats at GE15, forming the biggest bloc by party in Parliament, and leads the state governments in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis.

Meanwhile, Kedah PAS Youth chief Ilyas Ahmad told delegates that PAS has leaders capable of becoming prime minister and should no longer make way for another party.

“We no longer want to hear people saying, ‘It’s ok, let someone else be prime minister.’ This time, we want to ensure that PAS plays the leading role at the federal level,” he said while debating the Youth chief’s speech on Sept 3.

The message from PAS’ ranks was clear: the party does not intend to be the little brother in any Malay unity arrangement.

PAS election director and Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Md Nor spoke in harsher tones.

He called on the party to take a more assertive approach in seat negotiations, arguing that PAS should no longer make way for its partners in constituencies where it believes it can win.

“We will determine which seats are winnable. We should no longer give up those seats to anyone,” he said in his winding-up speech on Sept 5.

Sanusi said PAS machinery was often deployed to help other parties, only for those parties to subsequently strengthen their own position at PAS’ expense.

“The seats that we can win, we gave to others. Let’s not be too generous and stupid,” he said, to cheers from about 1,400 delegates.

Sanusi said PAS should recognise its growing political strength, noting that it has become “an elephant of a party”.

“Our people go over and help (other parties), and we’re happy. Then their party grows while ours remains small. They get to field the candidate, while we become their election machinery. Let’s speak openly,” he said.

That is not the language of a party preparing to surrender territory for the sake of a grand bargain.

But unity may not be so simple

That could prove prickly in Melaka, where a state election expected well ahead of the February 2027 deadline will test who is prepared to give way to whom.

That could prove prickly in Melaka, where a state election expected well ahead of the February 2027 deadline will test who is prepared to give way to whom.

Melaka chief minister Ab Rauf Yusoh of the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition has said BN will defend all 21 seats it won in the 2021 state election, while remaining open to negotiating the remaining seven with potential political partners.

Against that backdrop, Hadi’s cryptic response on Sept 4 when asked how many seats PAS would contest in Melaka was: “The state assembly has not been dissolved.”

His secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said: “Negotiations (with BN) have begun, but nothing has been finalised. It is still ongoing.” 

And Hadi’s answer on whether PAS would eventually name its own prime ministerial candidate was equally cautious: “It is not yet time. We don’t know who will have how many seats.”

That caution, however, sits alongside the PAS Youth wing’s push earlier this year for party vice-president and Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar as a possible prime ministerial candidate.

But the reality on the ground may prove harder to navigate.

Political analyst Azmi Hassan of the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research said PAS’ fiery rhetoric was to be expected at its annual congress. But he said opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional would struggle to make further gains in states such as Pahang, Perak, Selangor and Melaka without cooperation with UMNO and BN.

“That is the reality,” he told The Straits Times. “It was a very fiery speech. Just wait for the next few days to see what Zahid says during the UMNO general assembly, which starts next week (Sept 9-12).”