http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/31920-pas-persists-with
-nasharuddin-despite-khairys-unity-taunts

PAS persists with Nasharuddin despite Khairy's unity taunts
By Shannon Teoh

KUALA KRAI, July 10 - Nasharuddin Mat Isa will campaign alongside PAS
spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat despite Umno Youth chief Khairy
Jamaluddin's continued attempts to drive a wedge between the PAS deputy
president and his party's Kelantan support.

Manek Urai election director Abdul Fatah Harun confirmed today that the
Bachok MP will have a joint programme with Kelantan Mentri Besar Nik Aziz
this weekend to dispel talk of a continuing rift between the two caused by
the Umno-PAS unity government proposal.

"This is part of our full strategy which may seem unexpected to others. The
deputy president may have been shy to come earlier but with two or three
days left, he will be here because all parties involved have agreed to a
joint programme with the spiritual leader," he said.

Last night, Khairy, who has been a strong proponent of any form of
co-operation between the two Malay-based parties, once again invited PAS to
join forces with Barisan Nasional (BN).

"We invite PAS to be with Barisan Nasional. PAS has been insulted by DAP and
PKR enough," the Rembau MP told hundreds at a ceramah last night.

The move by Khairy, coming so soon before Nasharuddin's visit, appears
designed to dampen PAS's hopes to put forward a united front to voters in
the Kelantan state seat.

Nasharuddin had been absent on nomination day amid speculation that it would
hurt PAS's support due to displeasure over his support for co-operation with
Umno which Nik Aziz had strongly opposed.

Based on this, Khairy played up the rivalry between Kelantan executive
councillor Datuk Husam Musa and Nasharuddin by blaming the former PAS
vice-president's influence on Nik Aziz for derailing unity talks.

"Nasharuddin cannot come because Husam says he cannot come. Even if
Nasharuddin comes now, the point is he has been barred from coming early
on," he said.

Husam had lost out to Nasharuddin in the struggle for the number two post at
the recent PAS general assembly which also saw the unity proposal coming to
the fore.

However, PKR election director Saifuddin Nasution believes that Khairy's
comments will have no impact on the Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

"I advise Khairy to look for a better political angle as this
divide-and-rule strategy is no longer effective," the Machang MP said.

He said that the unity government idea had been rejected outright in a PR
presidential council meeting which he had attended.

"So this is an empty threat unless Khairy knows more about our top
leadership than I do. In which case, I congratulate him on his excellent
political ability to read such implications," he added sarcastically.
____

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/108205

The young may act spoiler in Manek Urai
Hafiz Yatim and Jimadie Shah Othman | Jul 10, 09 12:18pm

Speculation is rife that PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, may
surface either today or tomorrow to throw his muscle behind the campaign for
the Manek Urai by-election scheduled for the coming Tuesday.

The speculation was triggered by reports in the local daily Sinar Harapan
and the mStar news portal which had quoted Nasharuddin and other sources as
saying that he will pitch in on Saturday.

mStar even quoted sources yesterday as saying that Nasharuddin had been
warded at the Serdang hospital, suffering from an intestinal ailment.

Since the by-election was announced Nasharuddin had been conspicuous by his
absence in public life, leading to questions being raised on his
whereabouts.

Even on the nomination day of Monday the Bachok MP failed to put in an
appearance.

As campaign entered its third day on Wednesday and the fourth yesterday,
there was no sign of the senior PAS figure.

Nasharuddin seen as PAS' albatross

PAS election director, Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah comfirmed when contacted
by Malaysiakini that Nasharuddin was scheduled to join the campaign trail
today or tomorrow together with PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat
at the Laloh wet market.

"Nasharuddin (left) will come insya'allah before the campaign period ends. I
hope that this will dispel all rumours," he said.

A proponent of the unity talks with Umno, Nasharuddin is seen as a liability
for PAS following a fall out with Nik Aziz.

This was somewhat resolved last week but the strain between the two still
remains.

Following his disappearance there was high speculation that PAS Kelantan had
banned him from attending ceramah.

Nasharuddin, meanwhile, was quoted by the blog Agenda Daily as saying he
would join the campaign on Saturday.

"There is no issue for Kelantan PAS to ban me from coming. I'm unwell and
Insya'allah (God willing) I will come on Saturday," he was quoted to have
said after minor intestinal surgery at the Serdang Hospital.

PAS ceramah better attended than Umno's

If at all Nasharuddin is able to make it on Saturday, it may be bad news for
Umno as this will project a united PAS in the last phase of the crucial
Manek Urai by-election.

However, whether his presence will boost PAS' chances of winning or open the
opportunity for Umno to capitalise on Nashruddin's fallout with Nik Aziz
(left) to win ground in this PAS stronghold remains to be seen.

The Wednesday night ceramah with Penang Chief Minister and DAP
secretary-general Lim Guan Eng recorded a higher turnout than the one held
by Umno and Muhyiddin at the same time in Manek Urai.

However, the question is moot that the turnouts will translate into votes
for PAS candidate Mohd Fauzi Abdullah, for there's still the chance that
younger voters may just go for the younger Umno and BN candidate Tuan Aziz
Tuan Mat.

Mustapa, at a press conference organised yesterday, downplayed the possible
impact Nasharuddin's presence may have on the outcome of the by-election.

"We do not focus on PAS leaders but stick to issues at hand relating to the
development of the people of Manek Urai," the International Trade and
Industry Minister said.

Husam: Denies KJ 's claim that he banned Nasharuddin

In a related development, senior Kelantan Exco member Husam Musa also denied
accusations levelled by Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin that he (Husam)
was responsible for stopping Nasharuddin from campaigning.

"Nasharuddin may have had some other things to do. He also did not attend
Parliament. Is it possible that I also prevented Nasharuddin going to
Parliament?

"Maybe in a day or two Nasharuddin will turn up. I think that Khairy is
trying to divert the Kelantan people's attention from the state's oil
royalty issue," he said.

He pointed out that he was just an ordinary appointed member of the central
committee, powerless to prevent anyone from campaigning in the by-election.

Nashruddin, the incumbent had beaten off the challenge for the deputy
president's post from Husam and Mohamad Sabu in the last PAS Muktamar.
____

Extract:

It appears then that what Annuar was trying to do was to equate efforts at
eroding the BN's communal status quo with "racial politics" - which
contradicts what the phrase conventionally means.

In short: being colour blind is racist. That is a classic example of
doublespeak.
__________________________________________________

http://www.thenutgraph.com/the-bns-doublespeak-in-manik-urai

The BN's doublespeak in Manik Urai
7 Jul 09 : 8.00PM By Zedeck Siew

IN George Orwell's seminal work of dystopian fiction, Nineteen Eighty-Four,
the totalitarian Ingsoc government employs, among its slogans, the phrase
"Freedom is Slavery". Orwell, who wrote at length about how "language can
corrupt thought", is credited with popularising the concept of
"doublespeak": language deliberately constructed to distort its actual
meaning.
http://www.resort.com/%7Eprime8/Orwell/patee.html

The Barisan Nasional (BN) campaign in Manik Urai, if its ceramah in Laloh on
the evening of 6 July 2009 is any indication, appears ready to embrace such
distortion.
http://themalaysianinsider.com.my/index.php/malaysia/31560-kelantan-umno-says-pa\
s-divisive-under-flip-flopping-nik-aziz

The night's last speaker, former Kelantan Umno chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa,
admitted that Umno was weak. "Malay politics are threatened. Some non-Malay
[Malaysians] support PAS, not because they love Islam, but because they want
to weaken Malay political interests," he said.

"Because of such racial politics, we lost in 2008. The result is that
Kelantan suffers."

As rhetoric, Annuar's message is quite subtle. During the March 2008 general
election, campaigns of the then embryonic Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties seemed
to embrace a platform of racial equality. For example, Parti Keadilan Rakyat
(PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim consistently promised to replace the
New Economic Policy (NEP)'s paradigm of ethnicity with need- and class-based
policies.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=321074

Since then, the PR's component parties, PKR, DAP and PAS, have distanced
themselves from the BN coalition's racially divided modus operandi by giving
weight to racially blind principles. PAS, embracing Islamic ideals, seem
poised to open up party membership to non-Malay PAS Supporter's Club
members.
http://thenutgraph.com/egm-to-decide-on-pas-supporters-club

It appears then that what Annuar was trying to do was to equate efforts at
eroding the BN's communal status quo with "racial politics" - which
contradicts what the phrase conventionally means.

In short: being colour blind is racist. That is a classic example of
doublespeak.

Fanatics

Trying to widen speculated rifts within PAS, Annuar praised PAS deputy
president Nasharuddin Mat Isa. Nasharuddin had acquired a measure of infamy
recently, for suggesting that PAS was open to unity talks with archenemy
Umno. He was publicly censured by PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz
Nik Mat. Nasharuddin has since been conspicuously absent from Manik Urai, a
state constituency in Kelantan where Nik Aziz is the popular menteri besar.
http://malaysiakini.com/news/107998
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newspolitic.php?id=418589

But Annuar, in his speech, saluted Nasharuddin and party president Datuk
Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for "having awareness" and "being open to looking for
alternatives", as they were amenable to working together with Umno.
http://thenutgraph.com/the-trouble-with-pas

Comparing the Hadi/Nasharuddin clique with Nik Aziz's less pliable faction,
Annuar said, "I think the seed of moderation will not die out in PAS. It is
the fanatics who will die out."

Once again, this appears to be a deliberate repositioning of PAS's leaders.
Nik Aziz has long been seen to be a more moderate voice in the Islamist
party when it comes to issues of Malay-Muslim supremacy. Indeed, he was
quoted as saying on nomination day on 6 July 2009: "In PR, we already have
Chinese and Indian [Malaysians]. Perpaduan Melayu antara orang Melayu buat
apa?"
http://www.thenutgraph.com/nomination-day-in-manik-urai

Further, if PAS is indeed denying the possibility of a unity government with
the BN, this would mean that they are indirectly in support of a two-party
system - certainly a more progressive form of democracy, as it allows for
more checks and balances in government.

Divide and rule

"This is not the time for the politics of divide and rule," Annuar said,
claiming that PAS, symbolised by Nik Aziz, practised a policy of "hatred
[of] Umno supporters". The implication was that Malaysia's second largest
party was deliberately preventing Malay Malaysians from achieving
intra-racial unity for its own political gain.

That is a curious appropriation of the "divide and rule" idea, since it
historically refers to the British colonial practice of pitting different
segments of society - typically divided along racial lines - against each
other.

It is ironic, since the idea of "Malay racial unity" - to stand against the
Chinese and Indian Others - is a colonial by-product. The BN coalition, with
its Umno-MCA-MIC triumvirate, is usually held as a post-Merdeka perpetuation
of the British's "divide and rule" policy.

It is tempting to assume that Umno is consciously employing this sort of
rhetoric in the by-election. After all, in a monoethnic constituency such as
Manik Urai, whose voters are 99.2% Malay Malaysian, threats to Malay unity
would certainly be deplorable.

BN supporters on nomination day
http://www.thenutgraph.com/user_uploads/images/2009/07/07/Manik%20Urai%20-%20BN%\
20supporters%20nom%20day.jpg

Also, it is easy to describe viewing Malaysian society with anything other
than a race-based lens as a bad thing, especially when a party such as Umno
is so dependent on race-based politics to remain relevant. Hence, it is not
surprising that the BN camp is now describing attempts to use other lenses
as "racism" or "extremism" as a way to cast them as being a threat to the
status quo. New ways of looking at Malaysian society would mean drastic
changes to historical prejudices and mores, and question the viability of
race-based parties.

Umno delights

"[Nik Aziz] is a good man, but he is a politician," Annuar cautioned his
audience.

According to Annuar, no matter how much PAS hated Umno, the Islamist party's
supporters could not run away from "Umno's delights".

"If they buy a motorcycle, they will ride on good roads built by Umno,"
Annuar said. "Whenever they wash themselves before prayer, they will use
water provided by Umno. When they go for the Hajj, they use funds created
for them by Umno."

Talking about basic amenities as gifts is feudal; Annuar's words imply a
kindly monarch rewarding disloyal subjects. Yet these are things that any
democratically elected government is duty-bound to provide for its citizens,
regardless of political affiliation.

Further, Kelantan's underdevelopment as a state in the Malaysian federation
may be attributed to insufficient federal support - which may be read as the
BN-dominated federal government punishing the errant PAS-ruled state.

Doublethink

Earlier that evening, Kelantan Umno chief Datuk Mustapa Mohamed envisioned a
BN win in Manik Urai as a "beginning of change for Kuala Krai, and the whole
of Kelantan." That isn't doublespeak, since the federal ruling party is the
opposition in this northern state.

But, judging from the language Umno leaders are now using, the BN's success
in Manik Urai would ensure the continuation of Malaysia's status quo in the
constituency. Worse, it may mean a deeper entrenchment of such equations, as
progressive values are called "fanatical", and feudal patronage is
repackaged as "democracy".

After all, if the Orwellian argument of "language corrupting thought" is to
be believed, then doublespeak leads to doublethink.
____

Kelantan Umno says PAS divisive under flip-flopping Nik Aziz
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/31560-kelantan-umno-
says-pas-divisive-under-flip-flopping-nik-aziz

Nik Aziz snubs Muhyiddin
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/27031

PAS plans big surprise for BN
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/108225

KJ opens door to PAS, slams Husam Musa
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/108199