PAS NON-MUSLIMS WING

Around ten thousand non-Muslim supporters of Malaysia’s Islamist party want to have a greater voice in the party, believing this would help shatter stereotypes about its stand from people of other faiths, reports said on August 17. “We have already received an approval in principle for this but the party still needs to iron out issues on how to implement it,” Hu Pang Chaw, president of the PAS Supporters Club, told the closing session of the party’s 54th conference. He said the idea of turning the Club, which groups 10,000 non-Muslim supporters of PAS, into an important wing was the brainchild of PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang. On August 16 Abdul Hadi said the move was in recognition of the role played by the Club’s members in garnering non-Muslims votes for PAS in the March general election. PAS made big gains in the polls, maintaining control over its stronghold Kelantan state and winning over Perak and Kedah, all of them home to Muslim majorities but also have large Chinese and Indian minorities. Hu, the PAS Supporters Club president, noted that for setting up the wing, PAS constitution would have to be tweaked slightly. “It would not have to be changed to state that full membership into the party should be opened to non-Muslims too. We can understand how with over a million members, there may be those who are more conservative who may not feel comfortable with that idea.”