opinion

The sudden active involvement of the Malaysian Islamic Youth Association or Abim members in Keadilan has prompted a flurry of speculation in the press. It has also given rise to a very crucial question: is this prompted by the personal views of its members or that of Abim?

Although Abim publicly stated policies are non-partisan, it is still perceived as being sympathetic towards former Umno deputy president Anwar Ibrahim, who was also the founder member and first president of Abim.

The situation fuelled speculations that there is a fierce struggle within Keadilan between former Umno leaders and the NGOs members in the run-up to the party elections on Nov 9.

It was initially thought that Abim members were acting on their personal capacity as Keadilan members. But when another non-partisan NGO - Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) - was dragged into the tussle, obviously the situation is serious and merited a rethink.

Clearly there is a power struggle within the party. And the issue has captured public attention. They are keen to find out what is actually happening in the party.

Is Abim getting active in politics, and now zeroing in on Keadilan?

From what has been reported, many are under the impression that the factions in Keadilan are not getting along well. Or could it be intentionally done in order to cover up the real motive behind it?

Although the reasons remained unclear, there are several possibilities .

For reasons best known to himself, Keadilan deputy chairperson Dr Chandra Muzaffar decided to refuse re-election.

Some political observers have related Chandra's decision to the frustration building up inside Keadilan following the DAP's pullout from Barisan Alternatif (BA) and PAS' uncompromising stand on the Islamic state concept.

Could there be another reason to it?

Political ploy

There is a feeling among certain quarters that Chandra's decision was part of a political manoeuvre by Anwar to secure continuous international support for his political agenda against Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Sept 11 attacks on the United States have changed the world political scenario, possibly to the detriment of Anwar.

The US is so preoccupied with its worldwide campaign against terrorism that Anwar's issue is now less important.

In fact, Mahathir's improved and comfortable relationship with the US president may have triggered off a wave of "counter measures" by Anwar's faction to minimise the impact.

And with Chandra back at the International Movement for a Just World or Just, it may prove to be an effective preventive measure.

With Chandra no longer in Keadilan and a number of Anwar's staunch supporters detained in Kamunting, Anwar desperately needs his loyalists to manage the party. The one closest to his heart is Abim.

Abim immediately mobilised its members in Keadilan to oppose the proposed Keadilan-PRM merger. They made their presence felt when the party failed to get the two-third majority needed to amend the party constitution.

They opposed the attempt by PRM to amend Keadilan's constitution. Abim members in Keadilan also strongly protested the proposed amendment to the position of Islam in the constitution, that Islam is the official religion - as stated in the federal constitution - from its present position of viewing Islam as a way of life.

Instead, they insisted that PRM be dissolved first and that its members should then join Keadilan. Or that PRM should continue to remain a coalition member of BA after DAP's pullout from the opposition front recently.

This also indicates that the party does not seem to have much confidence in former Umno leaders now in Keadilan.

General feeling

With the resignation of its Youth vice-chairperson Hamdan Taha, there is a widespread suspicion that more former Umno leaders will leave the party to rejoin Umno.

In fact, Hamdan's resignation is a pointer to the general feeling among the former Umno leaders in Keadilan. This further complicates things, and urgently requires an immediate consolidation of Abim supporters to face the coming party elections.

Obviously they are trying to avoid the fate that had already befallen other Umno splinter groups which eventually dissolved and saw homeless members rejoining Umno.

One such example would be Semangat 46 which was formed after Umno was declared illegal by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 1987.

The party started well, even to the extent of gathering opposition parties into an opposition pact which helped PAS to recapture Kelantan in the 1999 general elections.

But it eventually came to an end. The party was dissolved. Its president Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and his followers later rejoined Umno. Has Keadilan also reached the tail-end of its struggle?

Umno supreme council member Ahmad Zahid Hamid has made it clear that "it is natural for former Umno members to rejoin Umno". In fact, he said, they need no persuasion to do so.

His remark came after some quarters in Keadilan alleged that Zahid had a hand in the resignation of Hamdan. Several other former Umno Youth leaders in Keadilan are expected to follow suit.

Is there really an attempt by Zahid to bring back former Umno Youth leaders into Umno's fold? If so, it was a brave attempt indeed.

Zahid secured the third highest vote in the 2000 Umno's supreme council election. And his success in bringing his friends in Keadilan back to Umno, should it happen, will probably ensure him another term in the supreme council.