(June 8): PAS's motion to cut ties with DAP may not see the collapse of the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government because of the different political dynamics here, compared with Penang, an analyst and a DAP leader have said.

Unlike Penang, PAS cannot be made to let go of its posts in the Selangor government because of the seat composition in the legislative assembly.

And as much as some DAP members feel that PAS should make good on its motion and relinquish its posts in the Selangor government, the pull of electoral success and power in the state may see PAS's leadership avoid it.

Political analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan said PAS's leadership would not put the motion into practice because of the money and influence it would lose in Selangor.

DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke said for now, it is status quo in the Selangor government until the party made an official stand regarding the latest developments in PAS.

Loke said in Selangor, appointments to almost all official posts were negotiated based on each party’s strength in the Selangor assembly.

PAS and DAP have 15 seats each in the 56-member legislature while PKR has 13.

These posts include those in village committees, local councils, state executive councils, state agencies and government-linked companies.

But the situation is different in Penang, where PAS has only one state seat in the 40-seat Penang assembly.

“In Penang it is clear-cut. PAS members were appointed to state positions based on the personal recommendation of the chief minister,” Loke told The Malaysian Insider.

In Penang, PAS has no exco posts but its lone assemblyman, Datuk Salleh Man, was appointed to head the Penang Islamic Affairs Council, on recommendation by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. Lim is also DAP secretary-general.

So when PAS decided to cut ties with DAP, it followed that members should relinquish these Penang posts, said Loke.

“The same cannot be done in Selangor.”

PAS at its 61st annual congress which ended on Saturday, accepted without debate by its members a motion to sever ties with DAP. PAS leaders, however, insist that it was not the final decision of the party.

The motion originated from the Dewan Ulama or clerics' wing, but the final say on whether to implement it will be made by the party central committee and its Shura Council of senior Muslim scholars.

Soon after news of the motion's adoption, Lim announced that he would accept resignations by PAS representatives from government positions in Penang. The first to do so was former PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, who was ousted in the party's recent elections.

A Selangor DAP leader said the feeling among members in the state was to demand that PAS do the same here.

“Selangor is different than Penang. But we feel that if the party decides this at their assembly, then all their members should follow through with it, not make it on a state-by-state basis,” said the leader, who requested anonymity.

The motion was tit-for-tat for the DAP decision in March to cut ties with PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and for opposing the Kelantan Shariah Penal Code.

Selangor PAS leaders, however, are trying to persuade their bosses not to go through with the motion.

Selangor PAS chief Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad has said the party had no problems working with DAP in the state and has warned that implementing the motion would end the Selangor PR government.

Wan Saiful, of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), said PAS’s top leadership would find a way to wriggle out of the conundrum it finds itself in.

They would find a way to work with PKR and DAP in Selangor, as the party has benefitted the most from being in the state government, he said.

“We shall see whether they choose between the ringgit or the ulama,” said the executive director of IDEAS.

The whole episode would allow PAS members and the wider public to see and judge whether the Muslim scholars who have taken over PAS could manage the complexities of running a political party, he said.

This is because PAS has always insisted on the doctrine that Muslim scholars should lead the party. So a vote for PAS was essentially a vote for this doctrine in government, said Wan Saiful.

“Now the public can see whether they can trust the ulama to govern properly.” – The Malaysian Insider