PAS is a pragmatic party which will work with anyone and agree to anything to remain relevant in the political sphere, said analysts.

They believe the Islamist party peddles religion to serve itself.

An ex-partner of DAP in Pakatan Rakyat which is now working with Umno, its former sworn enemy, PAS has made it clear that it has no loyalty to anyone, said analysts.

Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Dr Oh Ei Sun said PAS was gearing up for a more conservative future with its statements and actions that were perceived to be more Islamic.

“PAS is now part of the ruling coalition and is gradually and steadily rolling out its socio-political Islamisation agenda, Indeed the coalition will collapse without PAS support.

“So PAS is indispensable in that sense. It would also need to show off its accomplishments from time to time to keep its ultra-conservative support base loyal,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Oh said this was a ploy for the party to radicalise Malaysians and be more appealing than Umno and Bersatu to younger people.

“In that sense, PAS is already quite perversely ‘modernised’ and is perhaps the most relevant political faction next to Umno in the increasingly supremacist Malaysian political climate.

“As PAS exudes a more extremist and radicalised image, it would actually attract more younger supporters,” he said.

PAS Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor came under the spotlight last week when it emerged that his government had demolished at least five Hindu temples since he took over in May.

His Perikatan Nasional colleague, Human Resource Minister M. Saravanan of MIC had been provoked by the revelation, accusing Sanusi of lying about the temples.

Since coming into power as part of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government, PAS leaders have also made provocative statements.

Pasir Puteh MP Nik Muhammad Zawawi Nik Salleh had caused consternation with his claim that the Bible had been “manipulated” to allow the consumption of alcohol

“We Muslims also believe in the Bible which was revealed to Jesus. That is a belief which we defend, and when I said manipulated or altered, my aim was to defend the originality of the book as it is,” Nik Muhammad had said in parliament.

Universiti Malaya socio-cultural associate professor Awang Azman Awang Pawi said even though PAS cloaked itself in religion, it was not a religious party but was using Islam to propagate its brand of politics.

“PAS uses the name of Islam but it is not really an Islamic party. It is more of a political party; it rides on events and incidents in the name of Islam to get mileage,” he said.

Analysts agreed PAS lacked consistency and flip-flopped on policies to suit itself.

A key example of the party’s chameleon abilities is its present silence on shariah law after having pushed for amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, or RUU355 (Act 355), when it was in the opposition in 2017.

Awang said this was to ensure the party had secured a foothold in the federal government before pushing its Islamist agenda.

“PAS’ actions are well known, the leaders will act on what benefits them. They have worked with DAP and Anwar Ibrahim (PKR president) and now they are working with Umno and Bersatu.

“They have no known direction, they practise politics of pragmatism which can be construed as selfish politics,” he said.

The political analysts believed PAS was looking at the long game and playing to the gallery by spewing statements that were radical and conservative in nature to suit the global political climate.

“PAS is planning for the long-term and not on winning numbers in the next few elections.

“They believe that if their creeping religious zealotry agenda is allowed ro spread, eventually the whole country would be religion-oriented in its socio-political outlook, by which time PAS’ theocratic appeal would be irresistible and even secular elections would become redundant,” Oh said.

Ilham Centre’s executive director Mohamad Hisomuddin Bakar said PAS today was vastly different from the party headed by the late Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

He said the current crop of leaders, including party president Abdul Hadi Awang, were driven by power and money instead of doing good for Malay Muslims.

“The current crop of leaders has deviated from the struggle. They are now in it for power and money.

“This is not the PAS leadership of Nik Aziz’s time. The leaders then were pious and practiced austerity; now they just want money and power,” Hisomuddin told The Malaysian Insight.

A PAS leader has even gone so far as to blatantly disregard the law. Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali broke quaratine upon his return from Turkey in July but received nothing more than a slap on the wrist for it.

Khairuddin paid a RM1,000 compound on August 7 and the Health Ministry said its top officials, including the director-general and infectious disease control head, were not informed of his quarantine breach and only knew of the matter when the media reported it.

No further action has been taken against the Kuala Nerus MP despite an outpouring of public anger and calls for him to step down. – December 4, 2020.