PAS must champion equality to woo non-Malays and take Putrajaya, says Zaid

 

FMT:

PAS must champion

equality to woo non-

Malays and take

Putrajaya, says Zaid

FMT Reporters

-12 Sep 2024, 09:50 AM

Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim says the party must declare that the government is not only for the Malays, but for all Malaysians.

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Zaid Ibrahim said it is heartening to know that PAS is interested in winning non-Malay votes, as typically major Malay parties behave as if they do not need the support of the non-Malays.

PETALING JAYA: 

PAS must show that it can champion equality for all Malaysians in order to win over the non-Malays and take Putrajaya, according to former law minister Zaid Ibrahim.

Zaid was commenting on PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man’s call yesterday for a paradigm shift in PAS Youth, particularly that it should focus on wooing the support of the non-Malays so the party can helm the federal government.

In a post on X, Zaid it was heartening to know that PAS was interested in winning non-Malay votes, as typically major Malay parties behaved as if they did not need the support of the non-Malays.

“The Federal Constitution has enough fundamental principles for PAS to work on. Equality, freedom and human rights are all consistent with Islam.

The equality principle is central in Islam, so tell non-Malays that PAS subscribes to this and assure them that the party understands the difference between rights and privileges. Only then will Malay hegemony cease to exist,

 he said.

He also said PAS must declare that the government was not only for the Malays, but for all Malaysians.

Only a Malay-Muslim party like PAS, which is big enough and strong, can be generous enough to admit to the non-Malays that hegemony in all shapes and forms has to be abandoned,

 he said.

Zaid said PAS must reshape the narrative of the country in the way Abraham Lincoln did for the US.

“Will this message be too heavy for Tuan Ibrahim to carry? Perhaps, but only courage and the willingness to differentiate itself from Umno will take them to Putrajaya.

The non-Malay votes are there to be taken. The question is whether PAS wants them or not,

 he said.

As for Malay-Muslim support, Zaid said PAS would need to declare that it would implement the principles of Islam as stipulated in the constitution.

Stop worrying about labels, whether the constitution is secular or Islamic,

 he said.

At the 70th PAS muktamar in Temerloh, Pahang, Tuan Ibrahim said the party must admit its weakness that it has to overcome, namely the lack of support in non-Malay areas, the southern parts of the peninsula, as well as Sabah and Sarawak.

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kt comments:

May be a 'bridge too far' for PAS. Since PAS realises and began to enjoy ethnic 'ketuanan-ism' it has metamorphosed from being only an Islamic Party (religious per se) into more of an ethnic one, to wit, a MALAY-Muslim party where ethnic ketuanan-ism could be enjoyed fully to its comfort. It's doubtful PAS can or is willing to retreat from such benefits and enjoyment, and "to frigg with equality".