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Malaysia’s largest political outfit, Parti Islam SeMalaysia, begins its annual congress today, stretching all the way up to National Day on Sept 16.
The muktamar – as the Islamist party calls its general assembly – has been closely watched for months as it was expected to be the final internal leadership election before the next general election.
The last national polls in 2022 gave Malaysia its first ever hung Parliament and despite PAS winning the most seats in what some termed a “green wave”, the party found itself outside of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s multi-coalition alliance of strange bedfellows.
But the PAS party polls have turned out to be a damp squib, as most of the top positions – from president, deputy president, the three vice presidents, youth and women’s chief and even the entire leadership of the religious cleric wing – ended up being uncontested.
While some may accuse PAS of stifling democracy among its ranks, the party is in fact known for extreme loyalty and discipline.
Its leadership stability sets it apart from the power struggles in Malaysia’s other major parties as succession plans unfold, or unravel. Even PAS’ own partner in the opposition Perikatan Nasional coalition, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, saw signs of dissent against its leader Muhyiddin Yassin at its own national congress that ended on Sept 7.
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