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ABSTRACT
Much of the recent literature on the inclusion-moderation thesis revolves around Islamist political parties. This paper contends that the case of Parti-Islam Se-Malaysia (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party) is instructive in this regard. I argue that political opportunity is what decides whether a party would adopt more ‘moderate’ tendencies, not its mere inclusion in the electoral system. PAS’ raison d’etre was initially based on campaigning for an Islamic State. Subsequently, when it was in a coalition with two other secular parties, it began espousing the concept of a 'Benevolent State'. When the alliance eventually failed, PAS reverted to calls for an Islamic polity. PAS’ ideological commitment to an 'Islamic state' was dependent on political opportunities. This study argues for a more nuanced understanding of the trajectories of Islamist parties.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 I do not make a normative judgment on whether moving away from championing an Islamic state is 'good' or otherwise; I am merely attempting to study the phenomenon of moderation as defined above.
2 According to the US State Department, as of 2015, about 61.3% of the population was Muslim. See retrieved from https://my.usembassy.gov/irf2015_my-081016/.
3 See “Concerns over implementation of hudud in Kelantan,” The Straits Times, 13 July 2015, Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/concerns-over-implementation-of-hudud-in-kelantan..
4 The alliance between PAS and Semangat 46 was called Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU), while the larger coalition between APU and DAP was known as Gagasan Rakyat.
5 “DAP keluar BA sebab Negara Islam,” MalaysiaKini, 22 September 2001, Retrieved from https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/4786.
6 Due to his sentence, he was barred from official political activity until 15 April 2008. The election was held on 8 March 2008.
7 The five states were Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Pahang and Selangor.
8 “’3 asas Negara berkebajikan gagal dilaksana BN’ (BN has failed to implement the three pillars of Benevolent state),” MalaysiaKini, 9 October 2011.
9 “Negara berkebajikan bukan agenda baru PAS (Benevolent state not a new agenda of PAS),” Malaysia Today, 6 June 2011. Retrieved from http://www.malaysia-today.net/2011/06/06/negara-berkebajikan-bukan-agenda-baru-pas/.
10 “Dasar Negara berkebajikan PAS sudah lama diamalkan BN (Fundamentals of PAS’ benevolent state had long been practised by BN),” Utusan Online, 11 June 2011. Retrieved from http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2011&dt=0611&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Politik&pg=po_01.htm.
11 The Malay word that is used disparagingly in this regard is boneka (which means puppet): PAS is often alleged to be the boneka of DAP.
12 Pakatan Rakyat, “Change Now, Save Malaysia!” Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_31TQlhxBnmVGtWbkdncUVRS2UtZEYzSmxSemhkdw/view.
13 “Nik Aziz launches Qaradawi letter endorsing Anwar as PM,” MalaysiaKini, 26 April 2013. Retrieved from https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/228166.
14 In almost every campaign speech made by Anwar in Malay, at least one Quranic verse will be quoted in Arabic.
15 Anwar openly expressed, on several occasions, that the opposition would be 'capturing Putrajaya' in 2013. See “Anwar yakin pembangkang tawan Putrajaya (Anwar confident opposition will capture Putrajaya)”, The Star, 4 May 2013. Retrieved from http://www.mstar.com.my/lain-lain/rencana/2013/05/04/anwar-yakin-pembangkang-tawan-putrajaya/.
16 Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, “Break up of Malaysia’s opposition bloc Pakatan Rakyat: What happened and what’s next?” The Straits Times, 18 June 2015. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/break-up-of-malaysias-opposition-bloc-pakatan-rakyat-what-happened-and-whats-next.
17 Scott Ng, “A fresh look at the DAP-PAS Conflict,” Free Malaysia Today, 15 August 2015. Retrieved from http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/highlight/2015/08/15/a-fresh-look-at-the-dap-pas-conflict/.
18 Wong Chin Huat, “Of Karpal Singh and Haron Din,” MalaysiaKini, 17 September 2016. Retrieved from https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/356003.
19 “DAP throws ‘over my dead body’ dare to rivals,” MalaysiaKini, 11 June 2014. Retrieved from https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/265375.
20 As a PAS supporter remarked to me: 'I do not think anyone in PAS really trusts DAP. We are just working with them out of expediency. We must maintain some scepticism toward them.' Interview with PAS supporter, 3 June 2015.
21 Whether this is indeed true, it was the perception of many PAS members that DAP’s influence in PR would magnify without Anwar.
22 “Najib has UMNO nod to seek polls pact with PAS,” The Straits Times, 11 October 2017. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/najib-has-umno-nod-to-seek-polls-pact-with-pas.