Sokongan terhadap PAS belum maksimum, kata penganalisis

PAS has yet to achieve maximum support despite securing the highest number of parliamentary seats in history during the 15th general election, according to political analyst Oh Ei Sun. The analyst predicts the conservative trend will continue nationwide, catering more to PAS, while Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid from Universiti Sains Malaysia notes that there are progressive Malay urbanites who could be approached by PAS.

Conservative enthusiasm among Malay voters has been increasing in recent years, contributing to PAS's victory of 43 seats during PRU15, making it the largest party in the Dewan Rakyat. As Malay society becomes more conservative, they will naturally gravitate toward an Islamic party like PAS, and the party has more room to grow, including in urban areas.

This trend is not limited to Malaysia, as it is happening in Turkey, Indonesia, and many other predominantly Muslim countries. PAS therefore has significant growth potential, according to Fauzi. Pakatan Harapan (PH) needs to accept the reality of increased support for conservatism and identity politics, as their combination often shows a tendency to undermine PAS supporters, reflecting their distance from reality and causing the affected voters to drift away.

PAS can become progressive without losing conservative support, but Fauzi emphasizes that PAS needs to expand its base by approaching progressive Malay urbanites, who would not cause the party to lose its traditional conservative base. PAS must prove to them that the party is not extremist, especially by promoting social pluralism and interaction between religions, while integrating Islamic concepts with modern nationhood.

The party should differentiate its candidate profiles and highlight professionally bilingual candidates in urban areas and states along the West Coast. PAS candidates should also be trained to speak about human rights and social pluralism, with a module provided by PAS to demonstrate that these ideas are not contradictory to Islamic politics.

Young Malay voters are a significant target segment, as they are not committed to any particular party and are more willing to change their support when voting. This group is the one PAS needs to convince to shift the balance in its pursuit of Putrajaya.