A former aide to former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has criticised PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for labelling DAP an enemy of Islam, warning that such rhetoric is taking the country in an unhealthy direction.
Marzuki Mohamad said the renewed ties between Umno and PAS had resulted in the two traditional rivals “manufacturing” a common enemy in DAP, which he said was necessary to sustain their revived political cooperation and mobilise Malay support.
Marzuki warns against demonising DAP
“While political critique of the DAP is entirely legitimate – and something I engage in frequently – demonising the party and its supporters as enemies of Islam is a dangerous escalatory tactic.
“Doing so also inadvertently categorises roughly 75% of the nation’s non-Muslim population as enemies of Islam. This trajectory is profoundly unhealthy for the nation,” he said in a Facebook post.
Hadi had claimed the previous day that DAP was leading Pakatan Harapan in “continuing the work of colonisers to destroy Malay-Muslims”, citing, among other things, the party’s push to revive local council elections and its “Malaysian Malaysia” vision.
The remarks drew criticism from DAP leaders and Wanita Amanah chief Aiman Athirah Sabu, who challenged Hadi to take DAP to court if he had evidence to support his claims.
From Islamisation race to Malay-Muslim unity
Marzuki said Umno and PAS, the country’s two largest Malay-Muslim parties, had been engaged in a bitter “Islamisation race” during the 1970s and 1980s.
He said it was during this period that Hadi delivered his infamous speech in which he labelled Umno members “kafir” (infidels) and described the struggle against the Barisan Nasional lynchpin as a “jihad”.
“This ideological race decelerated in the late 1990s when PAS formed an alliance with PKR and DAP, a predominantly non-Muslim and secular party, to challenge the hegemony of Umno and BN.
“Consequently, the political discourse shifted throughout the 2000s to focus on governance, corruption, public welfare, and economic performance,” Marzuki said.
Former rivals now ‘frenemies’
Marzuki said Umno and PAS, once bitter political rivals, had now repositioned themselves as “frenemies” under the banner of Malay-Muslim unity.
“Today, these former archnemeses have refashioned themselves as ‘frenemies’ under the banner of Malay-Muslim unity,” he said.
