CONFIDENCE was in abundance among the hardcore PAS supporters at the gathering in Shah Alam yesterday despite surveys showing the Islamist party would lose Kelantan and half its seats in Selangor if it went on its his own at the 14th general election. 

The surveys also showed that their president, Abdul Hadi Awang, risked his own seat in the constituency of Marang, Terengganu.

However, unlike other political parties, whose ultimate aim is to win seats, the “wala” or faithful in PAS believe efforts alone are the equivalent to victory.

These efforts, however, did not include making winnable pacts with other parties, be they the Umno-led Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan.

“The PAS struggle is to uphold Islam. Whether we win or lose, it depends on God. As long as we have worked hard, that is victory in itself,” said 46-year-old Zamri Salzi after the six-hour event yesterday.

His sentiment was echoed by religious teacher Nur Syuhadah Ismail, 25.

“We are confident as spirits in the party are high and as long as we work hard, that is good enough. Our goal is to uphold Islam and look after the welfare of the people,” said the Bangi resident.

Earlier, Hadi called on the 5,000 supporters to rally behind the party so that it can take over Kedah, Perlis and Perak while holding on to Kelantan and Selangor. PAS holds 13 seats in the 56-seat Selangor assembly.

Conspicuously missing though was his home state, Terengganu, which Hadi led from 1999-2004 before losing it to Umno.

Kedahan Muhammad Suhaimi Saad, 27, a religious teacher, also brushed aside the negativity surrounding the question on whether his party could win 130 seats.

Suhaimi said: “80% of the young people support PAS now. And while there is no PH any more, PAS has Muslim NGOs and Gagasan Rakyat.”

Zamri also believed that PAS’ victory will come from those aged between 35 and 50.

“We are confident that our political Islam is acceptable to all,” he said.

Voting for Islam

Nur Syuhadah said winning seats is only a secondary consideration for her and her friends.

When confronted with the question of how PAS could be a “kingmaker” by winning 40 seats when its best electoral performance was 27 during the 1999 elections, she shrugged and said: “Our effort is to help the party only.

“Unlike the other parties, none of our leaders has been arrested for corruption. The allegations out there (about leaders receiving money from Umno) are only rumours that have not been backed up by facts.”

Nur Syuhadah also did not believe in the suggestions that PAS had a secret deal with Umno to contest in more seats so as to break up the opposition vote.

Hadi said PAS will contest in more than 130 federal seats during GE14. During the last elections, PAS contested in 71 seats when it was part of Pakatan Rakyat.

She said it also did not matter whether her vote could result in a victory for BN.

“No way, would I vote for anything other than PAS. Not even if it means a BN win. The result is not important as my vote is for Islam,” said Nur Syuhadah when asked how she would vote in a three-cornered seat, such as Shah Alam.

Although Amanah’s Khalid Samad (previously PAS) won by 10,939 votes in GE13, the Shah Alam seat is a considered tricky in the event of a three-cornered fight there.

Muhammad, who votes in the Pendang constituency, said while he did not support any cooperation with Umno, he has accepted the leadership’s decision not to work with the other opposition parties.

“We are loyal and we support the leadership. And everything else is left to God.” – January 22, 2018.