Green wave will falter without Bersatu

PAS politicians have been hitting out at Bersatu leaders in their WhatsApp groups in the wake of the Perlis fallout and causing cracks that may be hard to mend.

TAN Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is not an impulsive man and he often comes across as stoic, opinionated and rather stubborn.

But there had been a relentless barrage of criticism directed at him since the Perlis debacle and especially after the mentri besar job went to state Bersatu chief Abu Bakar Hamzah.

PAS leaders are still seething at what they deemed to be betrayal. They think Bersatu robbed them of the mentri besar post. 

Muhyiddin, who is Perikatan Nasional chairman, was the primary target in many WhatsApp groups.

However, the attacks in the WhatsApp group of Perikatan members reached a nasty level on the evening of Dec 29, a day after the new mentri besar was sworn in. 

An MP from Kedah told Bersatu to “berambus,” which is an extremely rude term to get lost or get out.

But the last straw came when a Selangor PAS leader told Muhyiddin to go voluntarily instead of waiting for the Perikatan council to sack him.

That was probably the moment when Muhyiddin felt he had enough of the insults, he was not hard-up for the post and decided to throw in the towel. In the early hours of Dec 30, he announced his resignation effective Jan 1.

It is terribly unfair of the PAS leadership to lay the blame on Muhyiddin and his party for what happened in Perlis.

The PAS leadership failed to resolve the long-standing fallout between the palace and former mentri besar Mohd Shukri Ramli. They dragged their feet in proposing a new candidate for the post and when the palace finally picked a Bersatu man for the job, PAS accused Bersatu of betrayal.

What exactly did PAS expect Bersatu to do? Reject the appointment? Insist that the sovereign stick with Mohd Shukri?

Apart from the palace, Mohd Shukri also had problems with Datuk Hashim Jasin, the party’s mursyidul am or spiritual leader who is from Perlis. 

There was some kind of power game going on between the two and the three PAS assemblymen who were sacked for signing the statutory declarations against Mohd Shukri were aligned to Hashim.

But since they could not touch the palace or act against their mursyidul am, Bersatu became a convenient whipping boy.

An emergency meeting of the Dewan Harian or political bureau met in Marang where it was decided that PAS would take over the Perikatan leadership and it would not be part of the Perlis executive council. 

It is reminiscent of the Chinese saying, “cannon behind the horse,” that is firing the cannon after the horse has galloped away or acting too late.

Muhyiddin was away in London for a medical check-up on his cancer condition when all this unfolded. His deputy Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin was in Mecca.

Bersatu leaders insist that Perikatan has not broken up despite a string of Bersatu leaders resigning from the posts they had held in the coalition.

“The resignations do not mean that Perikatan has ceased to exist. There is so much emotion at the moment but I am optimistic that when things cool down, we can sit down and discuss everything in a more rational way,” said Bersatu supreme council member Datuk Harrison Hassan who is also Jeram assemblyman. 

Perikatan is bruised and disunited. Its claim to be a government in waiting is in ruins. If they cannot handle the politics of a small state, how can they be trusted to run the country? 

The opposition coalition is like a cracked egg that can be used to make an omelette but it is not going to hatch into a chicken.

What it also means is that the green wave will lose its momentum without Bersatu leaders who lend a touch of moderation and sophistication to the coalition. PAS and its theocratic narrative frightens the living daylights out of non-Malays.

“We should look at the big picture. PAS has slowly shed its image as a regional party but a stand-alone PAS may not appeal to the west coast electorate. It won’t be able to expand beyond its traditional seats,” said Bersatu politician Datuk Dr Marzuki Mohamad.

There has been such a stunning display of bad behaviour and arrogance especially on the part of the younger echelon of PAS leaders. 

Many in Bersatu were shocked and hurt by the disrespectful name-calling and threats to take back seats that PAS had allowed Bersatu to contest.

What has happened to the Islamist party? Isn’t a huge part of Islam about humility, overcoming one’s ego and submitting to the Almighty?

All those Bersatu leaders resigning, one after another, from positions in Perikatan Nasional at national and state level must have startled the PAS side.

It was Bersatu’s way of saying: You think we are so desperate for posts? Let’s see if you can do a better job.

For instance, whoever takes over as Perikatan chairman of Selangor will struggle to match the gold standard set by Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali who has been an awesome state opposition leader.

PAS has actually done well to ease fears that it has republican tendencies. Its leadership in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah have proven that they are loyal subjects of the Malay Rulers.

But are they aware that the Perlis episode was seen by some as challenging the wishes of the palace? 

The spotlight has since moved on to who from PAS will fill the chair vacated by Muhyiddin.

Several names have been mentioned - PAS vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan and Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor. All three are non-ulama leaders.

The fact that their deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man is not at the top of the list shows that deep down, PAS is aware that having an ulama as Perikatan chairman is not good optics.

Vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah had earlier taken to social media with the cryptic remark, “retak menanti belah,” suggesting that the fissure may lead to a break.

Is this the start of the end or can the rift in Perikatan be mended?

“This has become a marriage with no love. It’s hard to tell what may happen next. There are too many moving parts and we don’t know what is going to fall where,” said lawyer and political commentator Ivanpal S. Grewal.

> The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own