KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 ― It will be impossible for PAS to win any of the seats it plans to contest in the coming Sarawak state election as voters there view the Islamist party as extremists, several observers said.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) professor Dr Jeniri Amir pointed out that during the last election in 2011, PAS won none of the seats it contested, despite being part of the now-dissolved Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact.
The same can be expected this time around, he said, noting that the Islamist party now intends to field candidates in an “over ambitious” 11 seats, five more than the six it contested previously.
“They came close in only one seat in 2011, and that was because of infighting in the area among the Barisan Nasional leaders. It is impossible for them to win any seats because Sarawakians still see them as an extremist party,” he told Malay Mail Online.Since 2011, PAS has broken ranks with its former allies in PR and intends to go it alone in this year’s polls, saying recently that it will face off with the DAP in some seats.
Dr Faisal Hazis, an associate professor at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said while he understands PAS’s attempt to spread its influence in Sarawak by taking on more seats, he believes the move to be an exercise in futility.
“It is too much for them to contest in those seats. As we have seen before, parties like DAP made headway in Sarawak after decades of contesting here and losing.
“PAS is still very new to Sarawak,” he pointed out.
Unimas social sciences senior lecturer Dr Arnold Puyok said that Sarawakians “in general” are not ready to accept PAS.
“It’s stance on the use of the word Allah and on the hudud law will put the party at odds with Sarawakian voters,” he said.
The analysts also agreed that the opposition in general may not fare any better than they did in the 2011 polls.support from the Dayak or rural electorates,” he said.
“The issue is no longer about how many seats the opposition can win but how many good and capable opposition leaders will find their way into the state assembly,” he added.
In the 2011 Sarawak election, PKR won three out of the 49 state seats it contested, while the DAP won 12 of 15 seats, a feat that caused a major dent in Barisan Nasional’s armour in what was traditionally known as the pact’s fixed deposit state.MALAY MAIL ONLINE
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