Islamist Ambitions, Political Change, and the Price of Power: Recent Success and Challenges for the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, PAS

摘要

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party [PAS] is a political party with a mission. After decades confined to the northern Malay states of Terengganu and Kelantan, PAS has emerged as a genuine contender for the mantle of ‘party of choice’ for Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim majority. This state of affairs has materialized as a result of the party’s ability to reform and reinvent itself in order to adjust to the political circumstances of the day. However, as a result of this very pliability, which PAS has consistently demonstrated, it yet again finds itself at a crossroads. Having played an integral role in the Malaysian reform movement of the late 1990s, which belatedly bore fruit in the general elections of 8 March 2008, PAS is now confronted with the realities of power and incumbency (at least as a state government), not least of which are the challenges of what steps to take in terms of furthering its commitment to a pluralist opposition coalition without diluting its commitment to its Islamist agenda, and how to maintain internal party unity and cohesion in the wake of pressures arising from political change and transformation in Malaysia.