Pas Faces Uphill Battle In Winning Non Malay Support Ahead Of Ge16

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PAS continues to face challenges in broadening its appeal beyond its Malay-Muslim base, despite its dominance within Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Analysts note that while PAS’ situation mirrors DAP — with each drawing strong ethnic support — the party lacks equally strong allies within its coalition, wrote Azmi Hassan, a fellow at the National Professors Council and the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research.
According to Azmi, in Pakatan Harapan (PH), DAP relies on PKR, Amanah and even UMNO in the unity government to form federal strength. In contrast, PN’s partners such as Gerakan and splinters from MCA and MIC have failed to gain traction among non-Malay voters.
“But unlike DAP, which relies on strong partners such as PKR, Amanah and UMNO to form the federal government, PAS lacks similarly strong allies within PN. Gerakan, and splinters of MCA and MIC, have failed to attract non-Malay support,” he wrote in Sinar Harian.
Altogether he argues that PAS’ current leadership appears too extreme to win over non-Malay voters, despite the existence of an Associate Membership scheme for non-Muslims.
“If PAS’ Ulama Council insists on keeping the president and deputy president unchanged, at the very least, the vice-president posts should see contests, to show PAS is not permanently distrusted by non-Malay voters.
“Unlike UMNO in its prime, which was also branded as “extreme” in defending Malay rights, PAS lacks a moderate top leadership lineup capable of softening non-Malay anxieties.
“Therefore, with the top five PAS positions likely to remain unchanged until the 16th General Election (GE16), the party’s strength among Malays will hold, but its weakness in broadening appeal to non-Malays will persist,” he says.
To him, it means that even if PN’s current loose coalition of 12 parties remains intact heading into GE16, it will be very difficult to defeat the PH-BN alliance. —  Focus Malaysia

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