Malaysians walk past the NF party flag as they arrive to attend a campaign speech by Badawi in Malacca (AFP)

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (IslamOnline.net) – Despite repeated pledges of fairness, equality and democracy, most of Malaysia's Non-Muslims still harbor an innate fear of the Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and are likely to vote for the ruling coalition of Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the upcoming polls, experts and analysts said.

"Non-Muslims fear the PAS for its policies. They are told that the PAS will impose such laws as the cutting of the hand for stealing and castration for rape and that this may apply to the non-Muslims too," Mohamad Deen, a social worker for a rights group in Kuala Lumpur who hails from Indian origin, told IslamOnline.net on Sunday, March 7.

"The Chinese and the Indians (Hindu in general) for example also fears the PAS because they feel the Islamic party will close down all entertainment centers in the country if they are in power," he added.

PAS allegedly vowed to close down the sole casino in Malaysia, which is located in the state of Pahang.

"Though the PAS promised fairness, equality and meritocracy, which is not essentially what they are getting under the National Front (NF) government, the non-Muslims still fear the PAS for its religious leaning," he said.

"I believe that the PAS would do well to itself to mix a powerful strategy with its honesty to create a solid chance to win in any general elections in Malaysia.

"But with Islam as its constitution, the party is marginal and becomes a purely Malay-Muslim platform. That shuns away the non-Muslims," argued Mohamad.

Zaini Abdul, a political observer, also agreed it was obvious that most non-Muslims would not support the PAS.

"The PAS is proposing to open universities to the non-Muslims as well as to the Malays who have merit. Meritocracy is one of the major elements the PAS is intent on bringing to Malaysia but it is not appealing to the non-Muslims," he stressed.

The large majority of non-Muslims, almost 40 percent of the Malaysian population, do not enjoy special rights that are given to Malays.

This includes education and business support from the government, as stipulated  by the "Affirmative Action Plan" enforced since the 60’s.

Instead, non-Muslims have to find ways and means to educate their children after they reach 21, especially that their access to universities was tightly guarded and controlled until recently.

"The party also intend to bring in more democracy, fairness and transparency – the like which is being practiced in the two states where the PAS is in power, but this too has failed to appeal to the non-Muslims," remarked Zaini, also a lawyer.

Historical Roots

Ingge Aru, a Malaysian of Indian origin and an activist for the NF, attributed non-Muslims' fears of the PAS to historical roots.

"The PAS came into being after a split within the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which was the first party to campaign for independence of the country. The non-Muslims supported the UMNO under the NF in those days. There is now a historic link between the NF and the non-Muslims," he told IOL.

"Though it is true that non-Muslims are not treated like the Malays in many ways, we are still good supporter of the NF and it will be hard for the PAS to draw our attention since its mainly a Malay party with sort of ‘extreme’ Islamic ideals," opined the elderly man who was on his way to campaign for the NF in Ampang city.

Non-Muslims traditionally votes for the NF, which is the ruling coalition of 13 ethnic based parties that has ruled the country for 47 years without fail.

Propaganda Machine

Commenting, the PAS accused the NF of exploiting the government machinery and the media, almost under full government control, to intimidate the non-Muslims.

The government has put enough fears in the non-Muslims, telling them that the PAS is against them and will impose Islamic laws to undermine their culture and freedom of religion, Abdus Syukur, an official at the Media center of the PAS in Kuala Lumpur, told IOL over the phone.

"It is obvious that a large section of the population is being bombarded daily on national television, which is a government propaganda tool, showing that the PAS is anti-Malaysian, anti non-Muslims when in fact that is not the truth," he stressed.

The official made it clear that the PAS has explained its policies to the Chinese and Indian communities, adding the response was positive and many understood the PAS stance on Islamic state for example.

"We are certain that the non-Muslims will also vote for the opposition alliance and that will be shown in the results in many states where non-Muslims are significant," he said confidently.

Battle For Malays

Experts believe that with most non-Muslims expected to vote for the ruling coalition, the real battle once again moves to the divided Malays.

The government coalition is currently positioning its guns in the "Malay belt" where it lost most of the seats to the PAS in 1999, with the hope of regaining the balance against the Islamic party.

However, it is becoming obvious that the battle for Malay votes will go in favor of the PAS in Kelantan and Terengganu, whereas in Kedah, another Malay stronghold, the PAS may simply do better than in 1999, said Zaini.

"The government is currently struggling to bring the Malays together to win big in the elections since it is agreed that they have the total support of the non-Muslims.

"The Malays now see the non-Muslims as the ‘fixed deposits’ for the regime in terms of support. In short, the Chinese and Indians are viewed as those who do not care about issues but will vote the current regime with a blind eye," said the political analyst.

Malays form 60 percent of the Malaysian population and will represent almost 6.5 million vote in the March 21 elections where almost 11 million people will cast their ballots.

Analysts expect between 60 to 70 percent of the Malay votes would go for the PAS and its allies, while the ruling coalition would get the rest.

However, for Othman Chuah, associate professor at the University Islam Malaysia (UIM), the issue is clear cut – give a clear mandate to Abdullah Ahmad and life goes on in Malaysia.

"Malays may vote for the PAS in their majority but that does not mean the PAS wins the elections, it is clear that majority does not mean being dominant in politics nowadays," he told IOL.