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"PAS is not about Muslims only," said Kumutha. (Reuters) |
KUALA LUMPUR — In a major face-lift, Malaysia's opposition Islamic party Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) is fielding a non-Muslim candidate for Saturday's general elections.
"PAS is not about Muslims only," Kumutha Rahman, a Hindu, has told an election rally in Kampung Baru Ban Foo in Tiram, a Chinese majority district.
A member of the Unity Bureau under the Johor non-Muslim Pas Supporters Club, Kumutha is running in the Tiram state, a stronghold of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's Barisan Nasional party.
The 29-year-old law graduate had broken PAS's 61-year-old tradition of only fielding Muslims as candidates.
In Saturday's polls, Kumutha is running under the flag of opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim's Parti Keadilan Rakyat as PAS constitution stipulates that its members must be a Muslim.
The general elections will pit PAS and two other opposition parties against the ruling coalition, which holds 200 of the 219 seats in the outgoing national legislature and has governed Malaysia in various forms since independence in 1957.
Candidates are vying for 222 parliamentary seats, after the addition of three new constituencies.
The polls would also see the election of twelve state assemblies with a total 505 seats.
Equality
The Hindu candidate said she is impressed by PAS platform and its administration of northern state of Kelantan.
This shows that the party could put their promise of equality for all into practice, said Kumutha.
PAS suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2004, taking only seven seats in the national assembly and control of Kelantan.
Since then, PAS has been trying to revamp its image and capture support among Malaysia's ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.
It has lifted a 15-year ban on the popular games of snooker and billiards and allowed cinemas to operate -- although with the lights on to prevent any unseemly behavior.
In a major face-lift before the elections, PAS said that it would not call for an Islamic state in multi-ethnic Malaysia and is fielding more youth and women candidates, including a non-Muslim.
"At the moment, we have the suitable situation where we give room to non-Muslim to participate through the supporters’ club, and a working arrangement with the PKR for them to stand in the elections," PAS secretary-general Datuk Kamarudin Jaafar told IOL.
But many believe the inexperienced candidate has dim chances to win Saturday's polls.
"Kumutha is new, too new," M. Soorinarayanan, chief division of Malaysian Indian Congress of Tebrau in Johor, told IOL.
"And this is quite a task for her; she may not be able to do it."
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