Blaming

phantom voters and election irregularities for its massive defeat in the general election does not mean that PAS was not willing to conduct an introspection, said several party leaders.

While determined to prove the alleged tampering of the election, the leaders told malaysiakini that they were not ignoring other issues that could have contributed to their poor performance.

Information chief Dr Harun Din said it was unfair for any quarter to brand PAS a 'sore loser' for rejecting the outcome of the polls.

"We can deal with defeat. We have lost 10 times (before). There was never a problem in dealing with loses if things (the election) were done properly. But so many irregularities took place and one cannot deny that the Election Commission had failed miserably," he said.

Describing the election as "neither fair nor transparent", he added that the commission's credibility was questionable and this cast aspersions on the polls it was tasked to conduct.

The party had performed below expectation in the recently concluded polls, losing many of the seats it had won in the 1999 general election.

It just managed to win seven parliamentary and 35 state seats this time around, compared to 27 parliamentary and 98 state seats fove years ago. The party also lost Terengganu to the BN and only retained control of Kelantan by the slightest of margin.

Explanation needed

PAS central committee member Husam Musa, who won the Kijang state seat in Kelantan, expressed confidence that the party's allegations would be proven.

He said the massive gaps in EC's ballot figures were enough to raise doubts.

"Of course a re-election is out of the question but EC needs to explain the fumbles throughout the election.

"What happened last Sunday was similar to that in Zimbabwe. Instead of seeking an inquiry, the EC chairperson and his officers should resign," he added.

Umno stunned

Kedah PAS leader Amiruddin Hamzah said even Umno members were stunned by the results and the high majorities obtained by their candidates in the state.

"Their (BN's) campaign was almost nil while ours received tremendous response. But on polling day, we saw them ferrying around voters and we have no idea where they came from," he claimed.

"We can accept defeat but we cannot accept the vast majorities that they (BN) received. Our post-mortem showed that one polling station had 5,300 unknown voters out of the total 24,000," added the Anak Bukit state assemblyperson.

However, the three leaders conceded that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was one of the factors that had tipped the scale this time around.

As for the feeble performance in Perlis, Harun said he never harboured any high hopes of wresting away the state from the ruling front.

Pundits had predicted a close battle for Kedah and Perlis but the BN commanded a resounding victory in both the states.

Forgiving Malays

Elaborating on the Abdullah factor, Husam said the Malays were a forgiving lot and they had also failed to detect the baggage the new premier had inherited from his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"For them the past is past and it's time to put hope on a new man.. .of course in the next term if Pak Lah cannot deliver only then would the people realise.

"It took Malaysians 20 years before they discovered Mahathir's weaknesses and Pak Lah has only been around for four months..." he added.

Meanwhile, Amiruddin said PAS had tried in vain to convince the people that Abdullah was not as clean as portrayed but their efforts were hampered by the furious campaigning by the mainstream media.

Weak administration

On the issue of introspection, Husam said party leaders would admit their mistakes as much as possible and improve their position in the respective states.

"For example in Kelantan, we found the previous state administration was weak and that the party was relying too much on the image of Tok Guru (Kelantan mentri besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat) and this is not good for its long-term survival," he added.

He said the state government was also slow in attending to the needs of the people but quickly added that PAS was determined to change the situation during the next five years.

"We need to generate more economic growth, provide more assistance to the poor and create job opportunities for our graduates. It's not that the party did not care about these issues, but the leaders have somehow failed to portray their seriousness in tackling these issues," he said.

The most shocking of all results in the 11 th general election was how close Kelantan - a traditional PAS stronghold - came to being captured by BN.

The opposition party clung on to power by winning 24 state seats while its rivals took 21. In the previous polls, BN only managed to win two state seats.

Chinese votes

Amiruddin said PAS would also be seeking ways to woo the Chinese community, which appeared to have shied away from the party.

"We recognise that this time around the Chinese are no longer sympathetic to us and we will study where we have gone wrong and if possible rectify it," he added.

However, he dismissed any possibility of the party abandoning its Islamic state agenda.

"The most we would do is create a friendlier message on the issue. We definitely cannot trounce the agenda ... if we did ... what is the use of having an Islam-based political party?" he said.

As far as Malay support was concerned, Husam said the election outcome does not show that the community had rejected the fusion of religion and politics.

"That would be an unwise conclusion. Muslims have always been proud of the fact that Islam is a way of life and that includes politics. One must not forget despite the results, PAS' popular votes was still strong," he said.

According to statistics, PAS received 1,046,968 votes (15.8 percent) as compared to 994,279 votes (15 percent) in 1999.

Amiruddin agreed. He said the Islam Hadhari or progressive Islam promoted by its BN rival Umno had failed to upstage the Islamic state agenda propagated by PAS.

"In Kedah, the Islam Hadhari issue did not bite at all. Muslims were more keen with the Islamic state campaign that we introduced. Our agenda is more credible and in line with the real teachings of Islam," he added.

Party's agenda

Commenting on the election outcome, one PAS insider offered a more critical analysis claiming that the party should have done more in the past five years to strengthen its position and support.

"Interference of phantom voters are effective when support is less than 60 percent. If PAS had focused more in attracting fence sitters, phantom voters' influence could have been contained. Of course, the majority would be reduced but we would still win.

"They did not fulfill the rakyat's agenda for reformation. For the past term, they had only fulfilled the party's agenda with their Islamic state proposal

"Malaysians do not want to change the system, they only want to change the government - an alternative to the BN. But PAS offered a system that requires some change in the constitution... that is why fence sitters were inclined to BN," said the insider, who declined to be named.

He suggested that PAS should organise more programmes that could relate to the general public.

" Sembahyang hajat (special prayers), ceramah agama (religious talks) are fine for those within the party but at the same time conduct other programmes that do not compromise religious values like arts and sports," he said.

Disadvantaged opposition

Responding to this, Husam said the issue of an uneven playing field must also be taken into account as it placed opposition parties at a disadvantage.

"BN has the mainstream media and government logistics to boost their campaign. We only have (the party organ) Harakah which can only be published twice a month.

"Unless this changes, PAS will continue to be victimised by the situation," he added.

He said it was not easy to organise social events as the party faced logistic obstacles as in obtaining permits or permission to issue a particular venue.

The party leaders also acknowledged that they needed to boost the morale of their crestfallen members and supporters.

In view of this, Amiruddin said a programme will be held in Kedah tonight for this purpose. Themed ' Pertahankan Maruah PAS ' (Defend the pride of PAS), it will see the presence of several key leaders.

"We need to tell our supporters to continue with the party's struggle. It's not the end of the world, we have been in a worse condition before.

"In Kedah there was once when we only held two state seats... so having five now is not so bad at all," he added.