Fielding non-Muslims could help PAS woo non-Malays, says analyst
Published on: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Published on: Tue, Jun 10, 2025
By: Faiz Zainudin Text Size: An analyst said dissatisfaction among non-Malays towards Pakatan Harapan could give PAS an opening, but only if the Islamic party addresses deeper, structural issues. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA: Analysts have proposed two key strategies for PAS to win over non-Malay voters, namely fielding non-Muslim candidates in safe seats and highlighting the party's achievements in its administration of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, and Perlis – also known as the SG4 states. Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said PAS must move away from political rhetoric if it hoped to shift perceptions among non-Malay voters.
Advertisement 'So far, PAS has yet to demonstrate that it is a better option than DAP or PKR, as there's little to be proud of in its administration of the SG4 states. 'PAS must tone down its extreme rhetoric and focus on showcasing its ability to govern by making the SG4 a better model than the states governed by Pakatan Harapan (PH) or Barisan Nasional. That's what it needs to do now,' he told FMT. PAS vice-president Amar Nik Abdullah previously said that the party was targeting non-Malay voters who were disillusioned with the government ahead of the 16th general election, acknowledging however PAS's struggle to win over that segment. He said PAS faced the challenge of finding more convincing ways to gain the trust of non-Malay voters while preserving its clean image and integrity to maintain its support among the youth. Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said dissatisfaction among non-Malays towards PH could give PAS an opening, but only if the Islamic party could address deeper, structural issues. 'These include concerns about religious freedom and racial harmony, and rejecting theocratic narratives. Without such changes, discontent with PH will only be temporary, as non-Malay voters still find it difficult to accept Perikatan Nasional (PN). 'PAS also needs to overcome the longstanding distrust, including the fact that it once branded non-Muslims as infidels (kafir) – something that still lingers in the memory of many non-Malays.' PAS must be sincere in fielding non-Muslim candidates Awang Azman added that dissatisfaction with PH did not automatically mean that the non-Malays were ready to support PAS. 'PAS must be bold and sincere in placing non-Muslim candidates in winnable seats – just as Umno does with MIC and MCA – as a genuine sign of cooperation with non-Muslims. This shouldn't just be rhetoric or a symbolic gesture,' he said. Rusdi Omar of Universiti Utara Malaysia said that to attract non-Malay support, PAS must move away from an overemphasis on religious, racial, and royal sentiments, and adopt a more moderate approach. Meanwhile, Ariff Aizuddin Azlan of Universiti Teknologi Mara said PAS and PN would need to work harder than PKR, DAP, and Amanah did when they were in the opposition by championing mature politics free from racial elements. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malaysiakini
an hour ago
- Malaysiakini
MPs have the right to criticise their own party
YOURSAY | 'PKR is on the path towards self-destruction under Anwar.' Quit if you're no longer aligned with party, Subang PKR tells MP EmEmKay: In the realm of politics, the pressures can be overwhelming. As representatives, politicians often bear the weight of their constituents' hopes and frustrations. A holiday, especially one designated for thoughtful reflection, is not only deserved but necessary. Subang MP Wong Chen's time away offers him the chance to recharge mentally and emotionally while considering the direction of his political career amid continuous demands and expectations. He has not shied away from discussing the realities facing the Pakatan Harapan coalition and the government. He has rightly pointed out that many reforms promised by PKR remain unfulfilled, and as we reach the halfway mark of the federal government's mandate, it is crucial to assess what has been accomplished and what lies ahead. His statements underscore the need for accountability - not only for party supporters but for the Malaysian people who desire tangible improvements in governance. The acknowledgement of the gap between promises and performance highlights Wong's commitment to genuine progress. By speaking truthfully about the shortcomings of his party, he aims to spur necessary conversations that could ultimately lead to constructive change. Some within the PKR grassroots might feel frustrated with him for his candidness, but it is essential to realise that speaking the truth is not a fault but rather a responsibility. Open dialogue about the challenges faced by the party cultivates an environment where constructive criticism can flourish. Wong's reflection on these issues is rooted in his desire for the party to succeed and fulfil its commitments to the people. PKR activists and supporters should understand that his honesty aims to strengthen the party and not undermine it. His insight into the current state of PKR and the Madani government should be recognised as a courageous step toward fostering accountability and progress. As he reflects on his political future, one can hope that his experience abroad will empower him with a renewed focus on how best to serve the people of Subang and contribute to Malaysia's political landscape. Meerkat: Wong is still aligned with the original PKR aspirations. If he's now deemed as not aligned with the party, it's only because the party has shifted. The party should do a lot of soul-searching and get back on track. Otherwise, it will lose the support of many. Sure, they won't vote for Harapan, but they are not obliged to vote for Subang PKR deputy chief Dr Wan Hasifi Amin Wan Zaidon either. PurpleJaguar0553: Why should Wong quit? He was elected by the people based on PKR's promise of reforms. If PKR president Anwar Ibrahim is unable to or fails to fulfil this promise, then the MPs are entitled to demand an answer and question him on his failure. These unelected PKR divisional leaders should understand that MPs owe a duty to the public, not the party. When the party fails to live up to its promises to the public, they have every right and a duty to raise this. Anwar's minions seem to be working overtime to shut down all dissent within PKR. The effort is bound to fail. The non-Malays already realise PKR's failure and that this party is a family dynasty. The non-Malay vote is going south, and Harapan will fall in the 16th general election unless promises are fulfilled. GP2025: Country undergoing a reform process? What a laugh! What reforms can it boast about? This is enabling unqualified people without the support of the majority to seize power. Is that acceptable to reformists? What a joke. Anyway, I'm in your constituency, Wan Hasifi. You won't get my vote, but Wong might. BluePanther4725: Why can't a PKR MP criticise his own party? Seems like PKR only wants Pak Turuts (yes men). PKR has lost all its vision for 'reformasi' and does not practise democracy. PKR is rapidly morphing into Umno. PKR is getting rid of those who dare to speak out, like former deputy president Rafizi Ramli, former vice president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, and now Wong Chen. PKR is on the path towards self-destruction under Anwar. RedMarlin1833: PKR was always the 'weakling' in a few coalitions it was in before. Not much grassroots support, and now it is going to face a huge backlash in the next general election! The infighting continues, and now another one in the party will probably give up his post. Good luck! Pink: Endless fight for positions in PKR. I heard that Anwar would spend more time with the party to meet and consolidate the grassroots. This does not seem to be happening. This is what happens when the mission for reforms is no longer firmly upheld by the members. Nothing in common to hold them together. Every man fights for himself to grab the war loot. The process of attrition has started in the party. Gasinggeorge: You could easily defend his points, but the truth is that he came out criticising his party while at the same time announcing planned reflections on his career at an expensive foreign retreat. This is weird, to say the least. OrangeJaguar9341: Rejecting hard truths and then maligning the person who expressed them is immature and pathetic. Those in PKR who want to continue to live in a fantasy Madani-ville should not be so threatened by those who are more evaluative and realistic. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
Blow one's cover
ON the outskirts of Paris, 44-year-old French Muslim weightlifter Sylvie Eberena concentrates hard and pushes 80kg of bar and weights clean over her veiled head. The single mother made her four children proud when she became the French national champion in her amateur category last year, after discovering the sport aged 40. But now the Muslim convert fears she will no longer be able to compete as the French government is pushing for a new law to ban the headscarf in domestic sports competitions. 'It feels like they're trying to limit our freedoms each time a little more,' said Eberena, a passionate athlete who trains five days a week. 'It's frustrating because all we want is to do sport.' Under France's secular system, civil servants, teachers, pupils and athletes representing France abroad cannot wear obvious religious symbols, such as a Christian cross, a Jewish kippah, a Sikh turban or a Muslim headscarf, also known as a hijab. Until now, individual national sports federations could decide whether to allow the hijab in domestic competitions. But the new legislation aims to forbid the head covering in all professional and amateur competitions countrywide. Backers say that would unify confusing regulation, boost secularism and fight extremism. Critics argue it would be just the latest rule discriminating against visibly Muslim women. The bill passed in the Senate in February and is soon to go to a vote in the lower house of the French parliament. Some proponents want to stop what they call 'Islamist encroachment' in a country that has been rocked by deadly jihadist attacks in recent years. But critics point to a 2022 interior ministry report finding that data 'failed to show a structural or even significant phenomenon of radicalisation' in sport. The French football federation are among those that have already banned the headscarf. — AFP French Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner, a star of the 2024 Paris Games, said France was 'wasting its time' with such debates and should think about 'equality instead of attacking a single and same religion'. Right-wing Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau responded that he 'radically disagreed', describing the headscarf as 'a symbol of submission'. Eberena, who converted aged 19, said her head attire – allowed by the weightlifting federation – had never been an issue among fellow weightlifters. She said the sport has even allowed her to make friends from completely different backgrounds. 'Sport brings us together: it forces us to get to know each other, to move beyond our prejudices,' she said. France's football and basketball federations are among those that have banned religious symbols, including the headscarf. The country's highest administrative court in 2023 upheld the rule in football, arguing the federation was allowed to impose a 'neutrality requirement'. United Nations experts last year called the rules in both sports 'disproportionate and discriminatory'. It is difficult to estimate how many women might be prevented from competing if such legislation passes. But AFP spoke to several women whose lives had already been affected by similar rules. Samia Bouljedri, a French 21-year-old of Algerian origin, said she had been playing football for her club in the village of Moutiers for four years when she decided to cover her hair at the end of high school. She continued playing with her team, but after her club was fined several weekends in a row for allowing her on the field, they asked her to take off her hijab or quit. 'That they ended my happiness, just like that, over a scarf made me really sad,' she said. France's brand of secularism stems from a 1905 law protecting 'freedom of conscience', separating church and state, and ensuring the state's neutrality. The country's constitution states that France is a secular republic. French Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner said France was 'wasting its time' with headscarf issues and should think about 'equality instead of attacking a single and same religion'. Rim-Sarah Alouane, a researcher at University Toulouse Capitole, said the 1905 law, intended 'to protect the state against potential abuses from religion', had been 'weaponised' against Muslims in recent years. French secularism 'has been transformed into a tool in its modern interpretation to control the visibility of religion within public space, especially, and mostly, targeting Muslims,' she said. Sports Minister Marie Barsacq last month warned against 'conflating' the wearing of a headscarf with radicalisation in sport. But Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said that if the government did not 'defend secularism', it would empower the far right. In the Oise region north of Paris, Audrey Devaux, 24, said she stopped competing in basketball games after she converted to Islam a few years ago. Instead, she continued training with her former teammates and began coaching one of the club's adult teams, she said. But when she goes to weekend games, she is not allowed onto the courtside bench with a headscarf – so she is forced to yell out instructions from the bleachers. 'At school I learnt that secularism was living together, accepting everyone and letting everybody practice their religion,' Devaux said. 'It seems to me they're slightly changing the definition.' — AFP
The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
India intensifies expulsion of suspected foreigners to Bangladesh
FILE PHOTO. Police officers stand next to men they believe to be undocumented Bangladeshi nationals after detained during raids in Ahmedabad, India, April 26, 2025. - Photo: Reuters file GUWAHATI, (India): India has started to push people it considers illegal immigrants into neighbouring Bangladesh, but human rights activists say authorities are arbitrarily throwing people out of the country. Since May, the northeastern Indian state of Assam has "pushed back" 303 people into Bangladesh out of 30,000 declared as foreigners by various tribunals over the years, a top official said this week. Such people in Assam are typically long-term residents with families and land in the state, which is home to tens of thousands of families tracing their roots to Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Activists say many of them and their families are often wrongly classified as foreigners in mainly Hindu India and are too poor to challenge tribunal judgements in higher courts. Some activists, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said only Muslims had been targeted in the expulsion drive. An Assam government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Assam, which has a 260 km (160 mile) border with Bangladesh, started sending back people last month who had been declared as foreigners by its Foreigners Tribunals. Such a move is politically popular in Assam, where Bengali language speakers with possible roots in Bangladesh compete for jobs and resources with local Assamese speakers. "There is pressure from the Supreme Court to act on the expulsion of foreigners," Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the state assembly on Monday. "We have pushed back 303 people. These pushbacks will be intensified. We have to be more active and proactive to save the state." He was referring to the Supreme Court asking Assam in February why it had not moved on deporting declared foreigners. Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser, Touhid Hossain, did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. Last week, he told reporters that people were being sent to his country from India and that the government was in touch with New Delhi over it. Aman Wadud, an Assam-based lawyer who routinely fights citizenship cases and is now a member of the main opposition Congress party, said the government was "arbitrarily throwing people out of the country". "There is a lot of panic on the ground - more than ever before," he said. Some brought back Sarma said no genuine Indian citizens will be expelled. But he added that up to four of the people deported were brought back to India because appeals challenging their non-Indian status were being heard in court. One of them was Khairul Islam, a 51-year-old former government school teacher who was declared a foreigner by a tribunal in 2016. He spent two years in an Assam detention centre and was released on bail in August 2020. He said police picked him up on May 23 from his home and took him to a detention centre, from where he and 31 others were rounded up by Indian border guards and loaded into a van, blindfolded and hands tied. "Then, 14 of us were put onto another truck. We were taken to a spot along the border and pushed into Bangladesh," he said. "It was terrifying. I've never experienced anything like it. It was late at night. There was a straight road, and we all started walking along it." Islam said residents of a Bangladeshi village then called the Border Guard Bangladesh, who then pushed the group of 14 into the "no man's land between the two countries". "All day we stood there in the open field under the harsh sun," he said. Later, the group was taken to a Bangladesh guards camp while Islam's wife told police in Assam that as his case was still pending in court, he should be brought back. "After a few days, I was suddenly handed back to Indian police," he said. "That's how I made my way back home. I have no idea what happened to the others who were with me, or where they are." It is not only Assam that is acting against people deemed to be living illegally in the country. Police in the western city of Ahmedabad said they have identified more than 250 people "confirmed to be Bangladeshi immigrants living illegally here". "The process to deport them is in progress," said senior police officer Ajit Rajian. - Reuters
