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By Romen Bose, Agence France-Presse
PASIR MAS, Malaysia: The battle
flags are fluttering in Malaysia’s northern Kelantan state, as the
federal government campaigns to dislodge fundamentalist Islamic
leaders from their last stronghold in March elections.
The hotly contested district of
Pasir Mas near the beaches of the state capital Kota Bharu has been
festooned with hundreds of blue government banners which face a sea
of green flags for the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS).
Coffee shops are abuzz with talk
of the fight for the hearts and minds of Malay voters in March 8
general elections in which the Barisan Nasional coalition is intent
on claiming the only state left in opposition hands.
A victory would be a huge morale
boost for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose United Malays
National Organization (UMNO) leads the coalition which is expecting
to lose some of its majority in federal parliament.
“The coming election will
really see whether Malays have lost faith in PAS’s religious and
development agenda or whether they think UMNO will make a better
alternative,” says political analyst Shahrudin Badarudin.
“Either way, it is going to be
a tough call in Kelantan as the battle between religion and
development continues,” he says.
While the Barisan Nastional is
dangling billions of dollars in development projects, PAS is
offering its own brand of pious values and sedate economic growth in
the state which is dominated by Muslim Malays.
Currently, PAS holds Kelantan by
just a one-seat majority and the vote will be keenly watched as an
indicator of the appetite for fundamentalist Islam in Malaysia,
which is also home to large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.
After 18 years under PAS control,
Kelantan is one of Malaysia’s poorest states, with an economy
reliant on rice, rubber and tobacco farming, and fishing along its
long coastline.
At the height of its power, PAS
controlled Kelantan and neighboring Terengganu state which it won in
1999 elections.
But its tough line, including a
campaign to turn Malaysia into a religious state, and prohibitions
on nightclubs, skimpy clothes and alcohol, coupled with excitement
over Abdullah’s new administration saw it lose Terengganu in 2004.
The conservative party of Muslim
scholars absorbed the painful lesson, shifting away from its fire
and brimstone rhetoric and offering a softer line with more emphasis
on development.
“PAS today is viewed
differently from when we came to power in Kelantan in 1990, as back
then people thought we were very fundamentalist and too
conservative,” says Takiyuddin Hassan, 61, a senior executive
councilor.
“We are trying to provide a
balance between economic development and spiritual development.”
If PAS retains Kelantan, they are
pledging free education and hospital care and a reduction in petrol
prices which are set to rise elsewhere in the country.
But the coalition say PAS’s
plans are a pipe dream, compared to its 34-billion-dollar
development plan for Malaysia’s poor eastern states which promises
to transform the fishing villages and hamlets of Kelantan.
“PAS spends about 400 million
ringgit ($124 million) on development in Kelantan annually while
neighboring Terengganu spends about 2.0 billion annually,” says
the BN’s deputy chairman in Kelantan, Awang Adek Hussin.
“There is just no comparison as
to how backward Kelantan has become as a result of a lack of
development,” he says.
However, religious leaders like
Ustad Abdul Rahman Ismail, who teaches at one of Pasir Mas’s
famous pondoks or religious schools, refuses to accept the
government’s carrots.
“PAS has helped develop the
economy here, we are not looking to be like Kuala Lumpur, a
metropolis, we want a government who gives us religious development
along with economic development,” he says.
“We don’t mind lacking money
as long as we do not lack in being able to practice our religion,”
he tells AFP.
His view is shared by many
villagers who rely on the ulamas for political as well as religious
guidance. But for others, future prospects are more important.
“I know the PAS government is
good and helps the people but I also want a better life for my
children,” says food vendor Norhayati Ismail as she dishes up
piping hot fried bananas to a line of customers.
“If BN can give us more to hope
for then I will have to support them.”
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