COMMENT That PAS is losing the middle ground within its own party can be inferred from the decision of its Permatang Pauh division to sever ties to the party’s state assembly representative for the ward in the parliamentary constituency, Salleh Man.

Salleh is the sole representative from PAS in the Penang legislative assembly, having retained the seat for the party in a by-election in 2009 and being re-elected in the general election in May 2013 (GE13).

A soft-spoken and unassertive politician, Salleh is inclined to support the party leadership; all these years, it was not easy to say if his preference was for the conservative ulama wing of the party or its nemesis, the professionals or progressives.

The past years of a tense and sometimes acrimonious struggle between the two wings has played itself out without Salleh signalling which side had his vote.

Apparently, on Nov 2 Salleh has indicated his support for Pakatan Harapan, the newfangled opposition coalition that is composed of DAP, PKR and the PAS splinter, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).

As president of the Penang Islamic Council, Salleh would have been under some pressure to declare his allegiance as the DAP-led Penang state government has refashioned itself as a Pakatan Harapan government.

Its former designation as a Pakatan Rakyat government became untenable after the break-up of that coalition in June because of PAS’ decision to sever ties with its Pakatan Rakyat coalition partner, DAP.

The severance came after a year-and-a-half of constant sniping between both parties which produced much turbulence with Pakatan Rakyat, accompanied by a by-product which was the splintering of PAS, with the upshot being Amanah’s formation in September.

It appears more tumult is in store for PAS as a remnant of the progressives still in PAS are out to point out flaws in the party that is certain to cause further ructions within it.

Husam Musa ( photo ), a former party veep and a luminary of the Kelantan state administration under the menteri besar-ship of the late and revered Nik Aziz Nik Mat, has led the attacks on weaknesses in the state government led by current MB Ahmad Yakob.

Husam’s substantive and reasoned attacks have not elicited rebuttals, and only aspersions were cast on his motives.

These ranged from alleged disappointment over not being made the MB after Nik Aziz had retired after GE13 to disgruntlement at not being able to retain his vice-president’s post at the party’s polls in June.

Countering aspersions

Husam has countered these aspersions with disavowals of any motive stemming from pique at not being chosen as MB or as party veep; instead he has vowed to stay in the party he says he loves and wants to put right.

Latterly, Husam has focused his attacks on party president Abdul Hadi Awang, accusing the chief of pro-unity government with Umno inclinations, which Hadi has lamely denied .

When the party’s ulama chief, Mahfodz Mahmood ( photo ), suggested that Husam leave to join his progressive compatriots in Amanah, Husam was biting in response, saying PAS was neither Mahfodz’s nor Husam’s .

It appears Husam is waging an internal struggle to gain the middle ground in PAS, the sector that leaders like Salleh inhabit.

The fact that Salleh seems not keen to associate himself with the conservatives in PAS and while mum over where his eventual future lies, he wants a time-out on a declaration of allegiance.

One can infer then this time-out would not be resolved in favour of a return to the mainstream of PAS because of the polarisation between conservatives and progressives that was allowed to harden under Hadi.

Hadi continues to spout a lot of vague and obscure views and to stake out mildly racial and sectarians positions, the latest being that he is opposed to the DAP’s proposal to have local council elections because this would lead to Chinese conquests of the towns in Malaysia.

Coming from an Islamic leader supposedly against the concept of ‘aasabiyah’, the stance that proscribes ethnocentrism, Hadi is veering in the direction of muddying Islam’s universalist message.

This is going to alienate the middle ground in PAS, the sector of the membership which while it thinks that the ulama should lead the party, the theologians do not have a monopoly on political wisdom.

From that standpoint, the apparent alienation of Salleh Man bodes ill for the conservatives of the party who may find themselves in charge of dwindling ranks.

TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for more than four decades. A sobering discovery has been that those who protest the loudest tend to replicate the faults they revile in others.