“In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.”

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

COMMENT | This is God’s honest truth. I am more wary of the crypto Islamists within Pakatan Harapan – more so now that Harapan is the establishment – than I am of PAS.

There was a meme floating around before the Cameron Highlands by-election, that Harapan should be working in some form or another with PAS. After the by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was asked, considering the results, if it was time for Harapan to woo PAS.

Malaysiakini columnist P Gunasegaram advances the same idea in his post-mortem of the Cameron Highlands by-election: “And they should not exclude a possible alliance with PAS for this, thus pulling the carpet from under Umno. This may require a leadership change within PAS and the dropping of DAP’s virulent opposition to the Islamic party.”

About the only thing I disagree with Guna’s point is that it is not so much the DAP's virulent opposition to PAS, but rather that the DAP has hitched its wagon to Amanah’s narrative of Islam, and any sort of relationship with PAS would be defined by PAS trolling Amanah in the religious, political and social discourse.

I do not think people understand how damaging the fallout has been with Amanah splintering from PAS, or how PAS blames the DAP for this. When the so-called moderates of Amanah left PAS, a vacuum was created in the Islamic discourse in PAS, which has not been filled. This suits PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang just fine.

Two points I have made before need to be considered. The first when I warned not to underestimate PAS: “Some opposition analysts think that PAS was crippled when Amanah broke away, but my thinking is different, especially when speaking to PAS grassroots-level organisers. While a political party needs a robust dialectic within it to remain relevant, PAS is now free to define (centrally) its own version of moderation without having to rely on non-Muslims (or Muslims who are simpatico to non-Muslim politicians) input to craft a narrative which resonates with their ever-growing base.”

And the second, when I warned of PAS’ foreboding green tsunami: “PAS has remained true to its principles, and in numerous articles that mainstream English speakers can’t be bothered to read, told their supporters that winning the federal government at the expense of their Islamic values is not something which PAS desires...