PAS has been in power in Kelantan since 1990 but many of its supporters are unhappy with the state government under the leadership of Ahmad Yakob
Mohamad Nordin Adam was a hard-core PAS activist who resigned from the Islamist party in February.
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.
“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.