At the party’s general assembly today, Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad, who heads the PAS Commission on National Unity (LPN), lamented that branch and division level LPNs weren’t active enough and this was crucial to spur the growth of the PAS Supporters’ Wing – the Islamist’s party’s wing for non-Muslims.
Najihatussalehah said at the national level, LPN has organised Mandarin classes and wowed delegates with a few sentences in Mandarin.
“If we can’t speak Mandarin, how can we be candidates in places like Ipoh Timur, Ipoh Barat, as well as in Kuala Lumpur, in areas like Bukit Bintang.
“All leaders, especially those at the branch and division levels, must make the effort to increase their proficiency in English, Mandarin, Tamil, as well as the native languages of Sabah, Sarawak and Orang Asli here in Peninsular Malaysia.”
Najihatussalehah cited the case of PAS in the Parit parliamentary constituency in the 2008 general election (GE12). She said the PAS candidate received only one vote from the Orang Asli community in Sg Perah.
She said after that, they made the effort to learn the ways and language of the Orang Asli there and in GE13, PAS received 13 votes from the Orang Asli there.
Najihatussalehah said even though some may scoff at them only receiving 13 votes from the Orang Asli community, it was still a notable increase from 2008.
In the past few days, several PAS leaders have reiterated that the party isn’t against non-Muslims but is only against the DAP, which it sees as being anti-Islam.
This year’s PAS muktamar is the second party assembly since the 2015 party elections which saw the defeat of several veteran leaders who were contesting for top posts.
These leaders later set up Amanah, which is now part of Pakatan Harapan together with PKR, DAP and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.