PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s claim that the United States interfered in Malaysia’s politics is unlikely to damage ties with Washington, but could raise concerns about Perikatan Nasional’s credibility as a government-in-waiting, analysts say.
Asrul Hadi, an associate vice-president at The Asia Group, said PAS needed to back serious allegations with solid evidence and exercise greater discipline in its foreign policy rhetoric if it wanted to position itself as a viable alternative government.
He said Hadi’s remarks may have been intended mainly for domestic political consumption, but their repercussions could extend beyond Malaysia.
“For a trade-dependent economy such as Malaysia, maintaining investor confidence and constructive relations with major partners, including the US, is an economic necessity,” he told FMT.
US ties seen as resilient
Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun said Hadi’s claim was unlikely to materially affect Malaysia-US relations, as Washington was “too experienced” to be swayed and could distinguish political rhetoric from a country’s actual foreign policy stance.
“Bilateral relations between Malaysia and the US have always been quite strong. We collaborate very closely in trade, investment and security, not to mention that we are an integral part of the global supply chain for computer chips and rare earths,” he said.
However, Oh said the claim was also unlikely to generate significant political mileage for Hadi, as Malaysian voters generally paid little attention to foreign affairs apart from issues involving Palestine.
For foreign investors, he said, the bigger concern was the prospect of PAS coming to power.
This sentiment, he said, was based on feedback from investors who remained concerned about the implications a PAS-led government would have for investment.
Questions over evidence
University of Tasmania’s James Chin said any investigation into Hadi’s claim was unlikely to reach a conclusive finding, as the former US ambassador involved was no longer in Malaysia and Washington had already denied the allegations.
He said the matter had become a “he said, she said” situation, with neither side able to conclusively prove its version of events.
“PAS supporters will believe Hadi no matter what he says because party members are fiercely loyal. It will have zero impact on PAS’s reputation among its base,” he added.
Claim dates back to 2014
The controversy stems from Hadi’s claim at PAS’s 72nd muktamar in Kelantan that the US embassy had offered assistance to the party to topple the Barisan Nasional government in 2014, during former US president Barack Obama’s visit to Malaysia that year.
Hadi said then-PAS assistant secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan and Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who was his political secretary at the time, had gone to the embassy for the meeting.
However, he said Takiyuddin and Samsuri were not swayed by the offer and remained firm in rejecting it.
The US embassy has since denied Hadi’s claim, stressing that the US had never sought to decide Malaysia’s political leadership.
