Delegates want stronger ties with Pakatan
S Pathmawathy and Tarani PalaniPublished: Jun 6, 2009 11:50 AM | Updated: Jun 6, 2009 12:47 PM
The PAS delegates in their debate on the party president's keynote address stated that the party should seek to deepen its relationship with its allies in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
Delegates representing the party from the various states said that the Islamic party should work with other opposition parties in taking over the federal government from Barisan Nasional.
The PAS delegates in their debate on the party president's keynote address stated that the party should seek to deepen its relationship with its allies in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
Delegates representing the party from the various states said that the Islamic party should work with other opposition parties in taking over the federal government from Barisan Nasional.
They said party members are encouraged and highly exhilarated by the support of the Indian and Chinese communities for PAS in the general election last year as well as the recent by-elections.
Sofi Abdul Wahab, a delegate from Malacca, quipped that with the rate of support from the non-Muslim community, PAS in the next general election should be able to win seats that are considered BN strongholds.
“PAS can even win the Deputy Prime Minister's (Muhyiddin Yassin) seat in Johor if we can sustain the support of the Chinese and Indians as the seat consist of a high number of non-Malay voters,” he said.
“Insyaallah, if PAS wins the majority of the 72 Malay seats... then we can easily be the majority in Parliament,” said Sofi.
He further stressed that the contributions of PKR and DAP must also be commended.
“Do not forget that DAP and PKR also won 26 (parliamentary) non-Malay majority seats and 33 seats mixed seats... soon enough, we can replace the federal government,” he said.
The Malacca delegate also backed the suggestion by the party leadership to upgrade the PAS Supporters' Club into a full-fledged wing of the party to consolidate the support of the non-Muslims.
Sofi called for an emergency muktamar to be held soon to amend the party's constitution to make it possible for the supporters' club to be transformed into a party wing similar to the Youth and the Muslimat.
Re-consider upgrading the supporters' club
However, not all delegates were comfortable with the party's multiracial approach as they felt that PAS did not do enough to defend Islam.
Ahmad Zulkarnian, a delegate from Johor, cited the example of cases where several Muslims had converted to other religions.
“PAS has remain silent on the 'murtad' (apostasy) issue... have they forgotten our 'akidah' (faith) so as not to offend our friends in Pakatan Rakyat?” asked the delegate.
“PAS may have common grounds (with other opposition parties), but certain issues are exclusive to PAS, especially matters such as the formation of an Islamic state and the syariah (Islamic) law,” said Ahmad.
Even deputy Youth chief Azman Shapawi Abdul Rani, who won uncontested on Thursday, also cautioned the leadership to re-consider its proposal to elevate the status of the supporters' club.
He was worried that it would affect the party's Islamic struggle.
Wan Azha Wan Ahmad, a delegate from Terengganu, expressed similar concerns.
“The syurah (religious council) will have to meet and discuss on the matter as soon as possible.”
He also stressed that there was a need to identify the direction of the supporters’ club, “to not only help them understand the religion, but we have to also embark on a missionary effort to save them from the fires of hell”.
“If they are not in Islam, then they are not 'saved',” he reminded.
Non-Muslims should be saved from fires of hell
The dress code for journalists who are covering the muktamar was another issue that was brought up by the delegates.
“I want to ask why is there no rules on how the media dresses?” asked Taqiudin Hamzan, a delegate from Penang demanding a dress code for the media, especially the women.
Another delegate from Pahang, Yusof Embong echoed these sentiments demanding that there be an explanation by the end of the day on why members of the media were not requested to cover their 'aurat', drawing cheers from the crowd.
The debates were temporarily interrupted as the leaders and delegates wore black bands which read “Dissolve DUN” to protest against the power grab by BN in Perak.
The stadium rang with cries of 'Allahuakbar' as the party’s top leadership tied the black band around their arms while the 'Star Wars' theme music blared in the background.
Nasharudin said the patience of the people in Perak had been stretched to the maximum and called for fresh elections as the 3,000 strong observers cheered in approval.
Delegates representing the party from the various states said that the Islamic party should work with other opposition parties in taking over the federal government from Barisan Nasional.
They said party members are encouraged and highly exhilarated by the support of the Indian and Chinese communities for PAS in the general election last year as well as the recent by-elections.
Sofi Abdul Wahab, a delegate from Malacca, quipped that with the rate of support from the non-Muslim community, PAS in the next general election should be able to win seats that are considered BN strongholds.“PAS can even win the Deputy Prime Minister's (Muhyiddin Yassin) seat in Johor if we can sustain the support of the Chinese and Indians as the seat consist of a high number of non-Malay voters,” he said.
“Insyaallah, if PAS wins the majority of the 72 Malay seats... then we can easily be the majority in Parliament,” said Sofi.
He further stressed that the contributions of PKR and DAP must also be commended.
“Do not forget that DAP and PKR also won 26 (parliamentary) non-Malay majority seats and 33 seats mixed seats... soon enough, we can replace the federal government,” he said.
The Malacca delegate also backed the suggestion by the party leadership to upgrade the PAS Supporters' Club into a full-fledged wing of the party to consolidate the support of the non-Muslims.
Sofi called for an emergency muktamar to be held soon to amend the party's constitution to make it possible for the supporters' club to be transformed into a party wing similar to the Youth and the Muslimat.
Re-consider upgrading the supporters' club
However, not all delegates were comfortable with the party's multiracial approach as they felt that PAS did not do enough to defend Islam.
Ahmad Zulkarnian, a delegate from Johor, cited the example of cases where several Muslims had converted to other religions.“PAS has remain silent on the 'murtad' (apostasy) issue... have they forgotten our 'akidah' (faith) so as not to offend our friends in Pakatan Rakyat?” asked the delegate.
“PAS may have common grounds (with other opposition parties), but certain issues are exclusive to PAS, especially matters such as the formation of an Islamic state and the syariah (Islamic) law,” said Ahmad.
Even deputy Youth chief Azman Shapawi Abdul Rani, who won uncontested on Thursday, also cautioned the leadership to re-consider its proposal to elevate the status of the supporters' club.
He was worried that it would affect the party's Islamic struggle.Wan Azha Wan Ahmad, a delegate from Terengganu, expressed similar concerns.
“The syurah (religious council) will have to meet and discuss on the matter as soon as possible.”
He also stressed that there was a need to identify the direction of the supporters’ club, “to not only help them understand the religion, but we have to also embark on a missionary effort to save them from the fires of hell”.
“If they are not in Islam, then they are not 'saved',” he reminded.
Non-Muslims should be saved from fires of hell
The dress code for journalists who are covering the muktamar was another issue that was brought up by the delegates.
“I want to ask why is there no rules on how the media dresses?” asked Taqiudin Hamzan, a delegate from Penang demanding a dress code for the media, especially the women.
Another delegate from Pahang, Yusof Embong echoed these sentiments demanding that there be an explanation by the end of the day on why members of the media were not requested to cover their 'aurat', drawing cheers from the crowd.
The debates were temporarily interrupted as the leaders and delegates wore black bands which read “Dissolve DUN” to protest against the power grab by BN in Perak.The stadium rang with cries of 'Allahuakbar' as the party’s top leadership tied the black band around their arms while the 'Star Wars' theme music blared in the background.
Nasharudin said the patience of the people in Perak had been stretched to the maximum and called for fresh elections as the 3,000 strong observers cheered in approval.
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