“Criticism against the party leadership should be embraced and addressed accordingly,” said Faisal S Hazis, an associate professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
He was commenting on PAS’s negative reaction to criticism from Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar. Mahfuz, a PAS veteran, recently expressed his concern over the party leadership’s apparent arrogant reaction to calls for unity among opposition parties
PAS vice-president Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah reacted by accusing Mahfuz of attacking the party. Since then, several quarters in PAS, including Mohd Amar, have told the Pokok Sena MP to resign from the party.
Faisal noted that Mahfuz was criticising the leadership, not the party.
However, he added, PAS was not the only political organisation displaying intolerance to criticism of its leaders.
“This is a problem with political parties in Malaysia in general,” he said. “It’s happened in DAP before and it’s happened in Umno as well.”
In April last year, Wanita PKR communications chief Carolyn Khor accused Penang DAP leaders of targeting outspoken assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu, himself a DAP member.
She claimed a veteran DAP member had sent a scathing message to Teh’s office demanding that he “resign and quit the party”.
Last June, former Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin and former Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir were sacked from the ruling party for their outspokenness against it.
Faisal said such actions against party rebels were a means of subduing criticism against party leaders although the public would be told that the punishment was for criticism of the party itself.
“Party leaders are using this as a means to subdue any kind of criticism against them and to subdue party factions who disagree with them,” he said. “This is wrong.”
He said constructive criticism should be taken positively. “But if there’s no substance to the criticism, then disciplinary action should of course be taken. It’s understandable that if baseless criticism is allowed and members are allowed to act on their whims and fancies, then the party will be in chaos.”
Faisal said party members would often publicly show their displeasure with the leadership when their attempts at voicing their criticisms through proper channels were proving futile.
“If party leaders are dismissive of all this criticism, that’s when party members wash their linen in public,” he said. “They think the party leadership is not taking them seriously.”