MOHAMAD Nordin Adam has led the Kampung Laut PAS branch in Tumpat, Kelantan, for the past three decades, where he played a vital role in the rise of Ahmad Yakob as a state legislator and ultimately, menteri besar.
But on February 15, this dyed-in-the-wool loyalist and his members – some of whom have been party members prior to PAS taking over Kelantan in 1990 – decided to close the branch.
Less than a month later, about 50 of them applied to join PAS splinter party Amanah, which is regarded as traitors by the Islamist party.
Kampung Laut is not alone in this defection of hard-core activists from PAS to Amanah. The wave is sweeping Kelantan from Tumpat district, which borders Thailand in the north, to the south in Pasir Puteh, next to Terengganu.
It is one reason pundits and observers predict that Kelantan PAS, under its current leadership, could lose the state that it has ruled since 1990 in the next general election.
The sense of disillusionment with Ahmad and the current Kelantan PAS administration was palpable when The Malaysian Insight spoke to activists like Nordin.
PAS was not the same without the revered Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, who died in February 2015, he said.
Nik Aziz, who was fondly called “Tok Guru”, was Kelantan menteri besar from 1990 until May 2013. He led Kelantan PAS as state commissioner from 1978 until 2013. He was the PAS spiritual leader from 1991 until his death.
Ahmad, who is the present MB and state PAS commissioner, was elected in May 2013, after the 13th general election.
Mohamad Nordin Adam was a hard-core PAS activist who resigned from the Islamist party in February. – The Malaysian Insight pic, April 1, 2017.
Mohamad Nordin Adam was a hard-core PAS activist who resigned from the Islamist party in February. – The Malaysian Insight pic, April 1, 2017.
“PAS under Nik Aziz and PAS under Ahmad are different... while Nik Aziz was close to the people, Mat Yakob is distant – uncaring about the people’s problems.
“When Nik Aziz was MB, he went everywhere to meet people who were struggling. That has not happened since Ahmad Yakob took over as MB,” Nordin told The Malaysian Insight at his home near Kampung Laut recently.
The Kampung Laut folk were also unhappy with Ahmad’s handling of the heritage project in their village, he said.
“We have simply lost faith in PAS and the state government under Ahmad’s leadership,” he said.
Nordin has been a grass-roots leader since 1983, serving as Tumpat PAS deputy vice-chairman for several terms even before Ahmad became active in the party.
Ahmad only contested as a PAS candidate for the first time in the 1995 polls and Nordin was among those who helped Ahmad rise to his current positions.
A party veteran like Nordin leaving PAS with this followers and people getting upset with the state administration are clear signs that not all is well in Kelantan – PAS’s traditional seat and biggest stronghold.
The defection in Kampung Laut should also be a cause for concern as it is deemed the PAS “heartland” in Kelantan. The branch is in the Pasir Pekan state seat held by Ahmad.
Kampung Laut is the largest polling district in the state constituency, with more than 3,000 voters who mainly work in the cottage industry of producing serunding and dodol.
The erosion of confidence in the PAS leadership is also seen in other villages in Kelantan.
In Pasir Puteh, traders in the district had issues with the state government after they were forced to move into a new market complex, which did not meet their needs.
The unhappiness among the traders – many who supported PAS and Umno earlier – caused them to shift their support to Amanah, whose leaders appeared more interested in the people’s grouses.
One of them is Kelantan Amanah adviser Datuk Husam Musa, another former PAS leader, who has been speaking up for traders to protect their interests.
“The main Amanah supporters now are the youth while the older folks support PAS,” said a Kota Baru hotel employee, who also agreed that PAS had no chance since Nik Aziz’s death.
“Nik Aziz was more flexible in his administration, unlike the ones now who prefer to punish,” the man told The Malaysian Insight.
There is also the “reshuffled” opposition pact, Pakatan Harapan (PH), to factor in.
PAS is no longer a PH member following its public fallout with DAP in 2015 over its insistence on implementing the shariah penal code in Kelantan.
The pact is now made up of PKR, DAP, Amanah and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s new party – Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
When Dr Mahathir visited Kelantan on March 15, he stopped at Kampung Laut, and the people went out in droves to meet the nation’s longest-serving prime minister.
Kelantan Amanah election bureau deputy director Khir Zahri Abdul Ghani said his party had a fighting chance at GE14, estimating they could win up to 15 state seats out of Kelantan’s total 45.
“Our strength is equal to PAS and Umno’s in Kelantan... I can say it is 30:30:30 for Amanah, PAS and BN.
“The remaining 10% of the electorate will determine which party wins the most seats.”
Khir said PH would either face a three-cornered fight with PAS and BN, or engage in a BN-PAS pact in a straight fight.
“I think our chances will be better if we are engaged in straight fights,” said the former PAS Kelantan election secretary. – April 1, 2017.
lham Centre’s survey has shown that nearly half of PAS backers in Kelantan will be supporting Amanah in the coming general election. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, November 5, 2015.Although PAS’s mammoth rally in Kota Baru, Kelantan last month showed that the Islamist party was still relevant in the Malay heartland and resonated with young Malay Muslim supporters, an independent research firm disagreed.
Its recent survey shows that the party is expected to lose nearly 50% of its support in Kelantan during the next general election (GE).
Ilham Centre executive chairman Mohamad Hisomuddin Bakar said the survey found that many PAS members and supporters in Kelantan were expected to throw their support behind Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) in GE14, due by 2018.
These were mostly from the younger generation, professionals and former supporters of Muslim parties Berjasa and Parti Hizbul Muslimin Malaysia (Hamim), he said.
He said according to the survey results, 35% of PAS members in Kelantan who supported Amanah were still in the Islamist party as they did not want to cause problems for the PAS-led state government.
Some 15% of PAS members in Kelantan are said to have already joined the splinter party, which was formed by some of PAS’s most popular leaders dubbed the progressives after they lost heavily in the June party polls.
“We find activists from Berjasa and Hamim have joined Amanah, alongside professionals and youths in Kelantan,” Hisomuddin told The Malaysian Insider.
He added, however, that many Amanah supporters who held positions in the state government, including city councillors, village chiefs and other political portfolios, were still in PAS.
“They do not want to cause any problems by declaring they will join Amanah.”
Amanah’s largest group of members come from Kelantan, accounting for 8,000 of the total 30,000 members since the launch of the party on September 16.
Amanah Kelantan chairman Datuk Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah is confident his party can win in a three-cornered fight in Demit, one of PAS strongest state seats. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, November 5, 2015.Amanah Kelantan chairman Datuk Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah is confident his party can win in a three-cornered fight in Demit, one of PAS strongest state seats. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, November 5, 2015.Amanah Kelantan chairman Datuk Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah, meanwhile, said he was confident the new splinter party would win even in a three-cornered fight in Demit, one of PAS strongest state seats, which comes under the Kubang Kerian parliament constituency.
“We are confident of winning in Demit given the candidate we have there,” Wan Rahim told The Malaysian Insider.
He said, however, that he did not want Amanah to be blamed if the Kelantan state government, built by Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat since 1990, lost power.
That was why, he said that from the beginning, he had pushed for talks with PAS on avoiding three-cornered fights between PAS, Amanah, which formed Pakatan Harapan with DAP and PKR, and Barisan Nasional (BN) in Kelantan.
He added that Amanah was even prepared to sit out any of the state seats if an agreement could be reached between the two parties.
“But PAS is not bothered with our offer,” Wan Rahim said when met after a recent dialogue session organised by Amanah with professionals in Kelantan.
He said the programme, which targeted 70 professionals in the state, including doctors, pharmacists and lawyers, received overwhelming response.
Those who attended were mostly doctors and lecturers from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the USM Hospital.
One of the participants, Dr Salwa Ghani, who is a PAS member, said she was mulling over giving up her membership to join Amanah.
“Most of my friends have joined Amanah and they have asked me to join them.
“For now, I am still with PAS but I am considering.
“When Tok Guru was around, we professionals felt very appreciated, but now it seems not so much,” she said, referring to influential PAS spiritual leader, Nik Aziz, who died in February this year. – November 5, 2015.
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