*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* { Sila lawat Laman Hizbi-Net - http://www.hizbi.net } { Hantarkan mesej anda ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED] } { Iklan barangan? Hantarkan ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] } *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PAS courts support beyond Islamic base Confidence in its Malay support and the desire to form government has the fundamentalist Parti Islam pursuing non-Malay votes in a conciliatory way By Brendan Pereira MALAYSIA CORRESPONDENT WHEN PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat rubbed shoulders with Chinese pig farmers in Seremban recently, Malaysia's ruling party took notice. The significance of that ground-breaking act by the Muslim cleric was clear. One, how far down the road of pragmatism the Islamic fundamentalist party had travelled in pursuit of the vital Chinese vote. Two, how confident the party was of its foothold in Malay Malaysia that it was now able to court people and embrace norms labelled as un-Islamic only a few years ago. To be sure, the charm campaign by Parti Islam began on Nov 30, 1999, a day after the general election. At the polls, a significant number of Malays voted for PAS, helping it to keep Kelantan and snare Terengganu from Dr Mahathir's Barisan Nasional. But a large swathe of Chinese and Indian votes went to the ruling coalition, allowing it to retain its two-thirds majority in Parliament. The only conclusion PAS elders could draw: To rule Malaysia, it needed to move out of its comfort zone and become more attractive to non-Malays. >From then on, party leaders such as Nik Aziz and Datuk Fadzil Noor have sat down to eight-course Chinese dinners, refrained from speaking about the goal of forming a state based on Islamic laws and offered land to Chinese farmers for pig rearing in Terengganu. Often unsure of their own ethnic and religious constituency, party leaders often performed the PAS shuffle - one step forward, two steps back. Not anymore. Fifteen months after the general election, PAS now believes that its position with the Malays is unassailable. Regular surveys done by the party in the Malay heartland show consistently that six out of 10 Malays support PAS. Now, PAS is confident and sure-footed. Such confidence has allowed Kelantan Mentri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat to travel six hours by road from Kota Baru to Seremban to meet Chinese pig farmers: He knew there would be little political cost. It is this same calculation that enables the party's politicians to meet groups of Chinese professionals and to speak the language of equal opportunity and democracy. It also allows party president Datuk Fadzil Noor to plead for a stay of execution for a Chinese school, ripe for the wrecker's ball. Is this all-encompassing strategy working? Anecdotal evidence suggests that Chinese support for the ruling coalition is wavering, due in part to the government playing the Chinese-bogeyman card to win back disenchanted Malays. During a closed-door discussion between senior newspaper editors and government leaders, an editor from a Chinese daily warned the authorities against taking the PAS threat lightly. He sensed a softening of sentiments among Chinese towards PAS. It appears, so does PAS. For many years, PAS has kept its ties with Hizbullah, the feared guerilla group in Lebanon, quiet for fear of alienating moderate Muslims and non-Muslims. But the latest issue of Harakah, the party newspaper, shows Datuk Fadzil Noor having a discussion with Sayed Hassan Nasrullah, the secretary-general of the armed group, in Beirut. ______________________________________________________________ This email has been sent through 2b at http://www.2bmail.co.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( Melanggan ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body : SUBSCRIBE HIZB) ( Berhenti ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body: UNSUBSCRIBE HIZB) ( Segala pendapat yang dikemukakan tidak menggambarkan ) ( pandangan rasmi & bukan tanggungjawab HIZBI-Net ) ( Bermasalah? Sila hubungi [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pengirim: "Temingat Di Belantara" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>