'No competition for Pas' top five posts not good' - Experts 

SHAH ALAM - The lack of competition for the top five posts, which are president, deputy president, and three vice presidents, for Pas's 69th Annual Assembly, or Muktamar, which is set to take place here in Shah Alam from Oct 20 to 22, is considered bad for the future of the political party.

Independent political observer Dr Zulqarnain Lukman said Pas was now facing various challenges despite the fact that party supporters were satisfied with the current leadership.

"The centralised powers and lack of competition trend for the top five posts are not great for the future of the party, with Pas now going through several challenges.

"The situation now shows Pas did not want to change, and the ‘walaun’ doctrine or the expression 'we listen and we obey’ does exist, which causes party supporters to become fanatical towards Pas leaders,” he told Sinar Premium.

However, Zulqarnain opined that Pas's democracy was not fading, although nobody was brave enough to challenge the Top Five posts, especially for the Pas presidency for over two decades, and it was not odd that it had become the norm in the party.

Pas secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan confirmed on Friday that the decision would be made following the fact that there was only one nomination for each of the positions while one deputy president candidate withdrew.

The decision witnessed Marang MP Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang remaining as Pas president for the 18th year after he took over the grassroot leadership of the party from Datuk Fadzil Mohd Noor, who died in 2002.

Zulqarnain added that, among other factors, the Pas top posts were not challenged because several left-wing leaders were greedy and the left had been ‘quietly’ removed from the party.

Those members included former Bachok MP Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz, Pas Syura Ulama Council member Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi, and Pas Central Works Committee member Dr Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki.

Former Pas Syura Ulama Council secretary, who was the former Kuala Nerus MP Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, had left the party and joined Umno.

Political analyst Associate Professor Dr Mohd Izani Mohd Zain viewed the lack of main competition in the election showed that Pas leaders prioritised stability over scrambling for power and freedom to contest.

"Maybe Pas viewed there were no opportunities for competition to be opened as they won big in the recent state elections. They must maintain the leadership as it was proven to be accepted,” he explained.

Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin political analyst Dr Hussain Yusri Zawawi said that despite no competition for the top five posts, it did not mean that Pas lacked leadership at a grass-roots level.

Hussain Yusri said the proof was that Pas became a party that won the most parliamentary seats in the 15th general election (GE15), defeating Umno and DAP.

"This showed there were no questions about the integrity of leaders. The foundation of Pas’s success in Perikatan Nasional (PN) showed the current leadership has displayed a good performance, especially from the point of view of party diversity and openness.

"The lack of posts contested did not mean democracy was dead amongst the Pas leadership, but this is the reality of the current politics that made the members and supporters accept the current leadership,” he said.