The internal bickering in PAS caused by the persisting ‘unity government talks' with Umno could give birth to another Islamist party by a breakaway third faction, warned an academician today.

sivamurugan pandian saiful bukhari sodomy allegations penang 020708 01 Penang-based Sivamurugan Pandian (right) from the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) said the breakaway third force in PAS would be spearheaded by leaders who were not committed to any faction.

These third force leaders, he said, were neither backing party president Abdul Hadi Awang's faction nor PAS spiritual leader and Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat's faction.

He said PAS does have a sizeable number of such uncommitted leaders, who believe and adhere strongly to the original principles of PAS based on Islamic ideals.

"The group of PAS grassroots leaders and members would break away from the party to go on their own once they got frustrated and weary of the leadership tussle over the unity talks.

"The on-going PAS feud could just lead to the formation of another Islamist party in the country," Sivamurugan told Malaysiakini today.

He was commenting on the latest outburst by Nik Aziz against the ‘unholy unity government talks' between PAS and Umno.

The PAS fatherly figure also blasted certain ‘problematic leaders' such as vice-president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, secretary general Mustafa Ali and Selangor commissioner Hasan Ali for insisting on holding the talks despite objections from various leaders and grassroots members.

In his blog posting last week, Nik Aziz called on PAS to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to get rid of these problematic leaders and replace Abdul Hadi as party president.

‘Meeting might not solve issues'

Alarmed by the outburst, the PAS leadership decided to hold a special meeting ( musyawarah ) tomorrow, not an EGM, instead to deliberate and resolve the issue.

Lecturer Sivamurugan however, does not think things would improve much in the meeting.

He recalled that similar calls by PAS delegates during its 55th annual muktamar (general assembly) to drop the ‘unity government' agenda failed to stop certain leaders from holding secret talks with Umno.

"If the leadership crisis drags on as expected, the third force could get fed up and form a breakaway party.

"This not only does not augur well for PAS but also to larger impact, could weaken the alternate political pact, Pakatan Rakyat," he said.

NONE He pointed out that DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang (left) himself had expressed unhappiness over PAS in persisting with the unity talks with Umno, saying that such talks would undermine Pakatan solidarity and dent public confidence on the coalition.

Sivamurugan concurred with Lim that PAS needed to put its house in order fast and work with other Pakatan allies on a common agenda.

The unity talks were the main raison d'être for Kelantan government senior executive councillor Husam Musa to challenge incumbent deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa in the last party muktamar.

Pro-ulama Nasharuddin is widely regarded as the prime mover behind the unity talks.

In the closely fought contest , Nasharuddin (480 votes) triumphed over Husam (281 votes) and another PAS stalwart Mohamad Sabu (261 votes).

Both losers are associated with the non-ulama ‘Erdogan' faction in PAS.

'Anwar should step in'

Although it was a PAS internal problem, Sivamurugan suggested that PKR and Pakatan de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim should take the initiative to resolve the problem for the betterment of the coalition and to restore waning public confidence.

He said Pakatan should realise that many voted for a change in the last general election because they rejected Umno and Barisan Nasional political domination.

He said the people's 'vote for change' had unexpectedly set the stage for a strong and vibrant two-tier democratic system in the country.

"Pakatan partners should work together to strengthen and enhance the new political landscape.

"But PAS' flirtation with Umno is undermining it, confusing and failing the people.

"Anwar is duty bound to take the lead to intervene and resolve the issue before it is too late," cautioned Sivamurugan.