No carte blanche: Dr Sam (centre) with other PAS leaders including (from left) deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, and secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan. Many non-Muslims are asking if Dr Sam would have sufficient clout as the powerful ulama call the shots in the party. — AZMAN GHANI/Filepic/The Star
PAS leader Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar is viewed as articulate, professional and amicable, unlike many other party leaders with their hardline rhetoric.
So his appointment as the head of Perikatan Nasional is widely seen as a calculated move by PAS to soften its image and broaden its appeal beyond its traditional base.
The Islamist party has the largest number of Members of Parliament of any single party, with 43 representatives in the Dewan Rakyat.
It has also not hidden its ambition to head the next federal government and thinks the prize is now within its reach.
It has started to position itself as a credible federal alternative but it also understands that having merely Muslim voters will not be enough.
Non-Muslims and even urban Malays find PAS hard to accept. It will not be easy for Dr Sam, as Ahmad Samsuri is called.
Just days after the announcement that he would lead Perikatan, the Terengganu state government he heads ordered all karaoke outlets to close by 10pm.
It was mind-boggling news. For most non-Malays, karaoke is an evening entertainment business. The order means it could well be a two-hours-a-day business operation.
Many non-Muslims are asking if Dr Sam would have sufficient clout as the powerful ulama call the shots in PAS.
The reality is that these religious leaders, with their educational background from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, are the ones that will matter most, not Dr Sam with his PhD from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom.
In PAS, ultimate authority does not lie with elected professionals or technocrats, but with the Majlis Syura Ulama – the clerical council that determines policy direction and can override political leadership.
Dr Sam’s position is similar to that of Masoud Pezeshkian, who is President of Iran but does not have the authority of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who always had the first and last say.
PAS has also not retreated from its long-held ideological objective of establishing an Islamic state. It continues to advocate the expansion of syariah laws and has repeatedly pushed for greater jurisdiction for the Syariah courts.
These positions are not incidental; they are foundational to the party’s political theology, and PAS has stated so clearly.
Nothing will change that.
Non-Muslims remember the tabling of private member’s Bills aimed at strengthening Syariah court powers.
They remember state-level enactments and moral policing controversies such as the ban on cinemas in Kelantan and gender segregation in public places.
Gaming outlets have been banned in the PAS-controlled states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis and Kedah, but the reality is that illegal operators have just taken over and revenue, in the form of taxes to the government, has been lost.
Perikatan has two non-Muslim partners, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party, both of which are comparatively inconsequential parties.
The position of Bersatu, under the leadership of Tan Sri Muyhid-din Yassin, is now uncertain as Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin is taking over another party – he is supportive of the coalition, and reportedly wants to be part of Perikatan.
Even if Dr Sam represents a softer tone, he operates within a framework where theological guardianship supersedes electoral pragmatism.
For voters, trust is not built on tone alone. It is built on assurances – constitutional, legislative and structural – that their rights within Malaysia’s plural framework will not be diluted.
In politics, optics matter but so does substance. Politics is also about perception, and perception is shaped by long-standing declarations and manifestos.
To be fair, PAS has successfully framed itself as clean, disciplined and morally upright in contrast to corruption-tainted rivals, but voters also want leaders who are professionals and able to perform competently internationally.
There have been some misgivings among some voters about Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim but can a PAS leader, especially the ulama, do as well internationally as PMX does when trade matters are discussed and decided?
Any coalition aspiring to Putrajaya must cross ethnic and religious thresholds, especially when it comes to Sabah and Sarawak.
The appointment of Dr Sam may be a tactical step in expanding PAS’ electoral reach. But unless the party’s theological guardians signal a substantive evolution, the trust deficit will remain.
Dr Sam alone, however nice he may be, will not be enough when it is the ulama who will be the ones who will decide on everything.
