PAS rally won’t influence MPs, say analysts
‘They’re not likely to go against the stance taken by their parties.’
Awang Azman Pawi, an associate professor at Universiti Malaya, said MPs were not likely to go against the stance of their parties on the issue.
Maszlee Malik of International Islamic University Malaysia, also said the turnout at the rally, though impressive, would not have any significant impact on voting in the Dewan Rakyat.
PAS organised the rally to prove that there is public support for a bill seeking to increase the shariah courts’ punitive powers. The proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act are expected to be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting in a private member’s bill sponsored by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.
Police estimated about 20,000 attended Saturday’s rally, but several other quarters said the turnout was double that figure.
Awang Azman told FMT there was no guarantee that public calls for support for Hadi’s bill would influence MPs because they would normally have to obey instructions from their parties.
“It will be hard for members of the public to force MPs to support their aspirations,” he said.
“Several initiatives, such as the Dual Language Programme (DLP), were previously opposed by a large number of lower-class and middle-class citizens, but the DLP was still implemented.”
Under the DLP, participating schools are given the option to teach Science, Mathematics, Information Technology and Communication, and Design and Technology in English or Bahasa Malaysia.
Maszlee said the majority who attended the rally were already PAS supporters.
“PAS MPs will definitely vote for the amendments,” he said.
“Amanah has already said that it’s not about voting, but debating.
“It is likely that non-Muslim MPs will abstain from voting. They may not oppose it, but they will abstain, meaning they might not even attend the session.”
Maszlee speculated that Umno might suffer from the support shown for PAS.
He noted that a few Umno leaders attended Saturday’s rally. “This might not be good for Umno because their Malay votes might go to PAS,” he told FMT.
Many have said that Barisan Nasional would benefit from three-cornered fights in the next general election.
Maszlee said this might change with many now perceiving a sort of an alliance between Umno and PAS.
“Now, with PAS securing its core voters and Umno losing some of its voters to PPBM, some of Umno’s voters might also vote for PAS. Since they’re seeing an alliance between the two parties, they might not see anything wrong with voting for PAS.
“This will be good news for Pakatan Harapan.”
Political analysts split on RUU355 rally turnout
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