[BN dan Umno amat gerun jika PAS berjaya mendampingi dan memikat hati masyarakat Cina. Oleh itu isu 'negara Islam' diputar semula untuk memecahkan pakatan BA. Cabaran Mahathir agar PAS mempamirkan draf negara Islam adalah satu bom yang perlu dimatikan dengan bijaksana jika tidak ramai akan terpedaya. Apatah lagi masih terdapat kesamaran apa yang telah diucapkan dan apa yang telah dimaksudkan. Ia sengaja dinampakkan sebagai satu perbalahan agar BA keretakkan. Padahal ia cuma sekadar sepatah dua perkataan. Jika itu disambung dengan pelbagai kesangsian yang tidak sepatutnya ia hanya mengundang malapetaka yang berkesudahan. Apa yang perlu hanyalah satu simpulan (knot) yang bernama pertemuan. Jika tidak kecelaruan akan terus melayang-layang. Noktah. - Editor]

Straits Times of Singapore
3rd July 2001

Rift between the secular and religious reopens

By P. Ramasamy

PARTI Islam Malaysia's (PAS) pursuance of its Islamic state ideology and the recent statement by some senior Democratic Action Party (DAP) leaders for the party to quit the opposition front of Barisan Alternatif (BA) have brought to the fore some deep-seated ideological problems within the opposition front.

The principal issue is to what extent the BA as a whole can reconcile the differences between PAS' vision of an Islamic state and the DAP's quest for a secular Malaysia.

In fact, the deep ideological difference between PAS and DAP is not something new.

It has always been there, but convenience and political immediacy to challenge the monolithical power of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) in the last general election in 1999 provided an opportunity for both parties to sink their differences temporarily.

Agreement on the acceptance of some common denominators, such as the need for an effective opposition to BN, the need to highlight cases of corruption and abuse of power, the necessity to ensure the opposition a strong voice in the parliament and others, prevented the open clash between PAS and DAP for a while.

Although it is still not certain what the exact statement made by PAS on the issue of the Islamic state was, there are grounds to believe that local newspapers, particularly those close to the government, could have blown the matter out of proportion.

It was the reports in the local newspapers about PAS wanting to establish a future Islamic state that elicited unfavourable comments from some DAP leaders.

It is not that the DAP has made up its mind to leave the fold of the opposition front, but there are certainly elements within the opposition which favour the DAP leaving.

Perhaps there is also a political motive on the part of the newspapers to harp on this issue.

Following the recent general assembly of PAS, there are worries within the camps of the ruling coalition that PAS is making some serious overtures to attract non-Malay support.

In fact, the speeches and statements made by the PAS leaders during the recent assembly gave strong indications that PAS' version of an Islamic state incorporated more universal features than narrow sectarian ones.

Since there is some evidence that PAS as a whole is re-thinking some of its ideological options related to the concept of a Islamic state to ensure broader acceptance, it is quite natural for parties like Umno, the dominant partner in the ruling coalition, to be worried about the effects of these on Malaysian politics.

The DAP is the only party in the opposition coalition that is not prepared to dilute its secular stand of a Malaysian Malaysia.

While the party is mindful of the tactics to be employed periodically to strengthen the forces of opposition, the party will never forsake the rights of non-Malays.

It is not that the party is being pressured to resign from the opposition coalition because of PAS' ideological stand, but nonetheless, from time to time, the party has problems dealing with what is a very important issue.

While the top leadership of the DAP is fully aware of the attempts made by some quarters to pit it against the PAS, it is also aware that, at some point in time, it has to discuss the issue of an Islamic state with the PAS and other members of the opposition coalition.

In the final analysis, it can be said that the discourse on an Islamic state is not something that has come out of the blue, with the possible effect of damaging the relationship between the two important partners in the opposition coalition.

But then, the matter has to be handled with much care so that those trying to wreck the coalition do not have the opportunity to do so.

Even if these two parties cannot agree on their respective political ideologies, this is not the end of the story for the opposition.

What is important at the present juncture is for the opposition coalition to provide an alternative so that the organising principle of politics shifts from its preoccupation with ethnicity to issues such as religion, class, and others.

The writer is a political science professor with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He contributed this article to The Straits Times.

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