DATUK Mustafa Ali has an easy-going style and is one of the most urbane figures in PAS. The PAS secretary-general is very comfortable about who he is and is unlike some PAS leaders, who refuse to look women in the eye during conversations.
He is also arguably the most powerful man in the party today because of his access to and influence on president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang; they were boyhood friends.
Some call him the de facto leader of PAS, which he always denies with a laugh.
He is also very frank, that is, until recently when he claimed that the media had quoted him out of context over remarks about the sex video featuring a man resembling Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
His remarks that PAS would reserve its stand on the issue until the police completed their investigation had upset PKR leaders.
As such, when he sat down with The Star recently, it was with a video camera rolling plus three Harakah journalists as well as its editor-in-chief Zulkifli Sulong.
“Just for the record,” Mustafa said with an apologetic smile.
The trouble with “on the record” interviews is that everything tends to come out rather too safe and sanitised.
Mustafa said the PAS election, which is just a month away, would be a “tame and normal affair.” He did not think there would be a mad scramble for posts but for contests from the deputy presidency down.
Hadi would be unchallenged as president despite widespread opinion that he is a top-rate ulama but a poor politician, a point Mustafa was quick to refute.
Nominations for the posts are still coming in and will be known on May 15.
He brushed off claims that this election would see the ulama segment in the party reasserting their dominance over the Erdogans or progressives.
But contrary to Mustafa’s sanguinity, nothing in politics has been normal since March 2008.
The last party election in 2009 was the most competitive in the party’s history and caused a rift of sorts between its leaders in Kelantan and Terengganu.
Some claimed that Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat has not got over his disappointment that his golden boy Datuk Husam Musa lost in the fight for the No. 2 post.
The contest for the No. 2 post is about to take centrestage again, but minus Husam who has told people he would be happy just to get a seat in the central committee.
Three people have expressed interest – the incumbent Nasharuddin Mat Isa, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak and Kedah orator Mohamed Sabu, who is making his second bid.
But like life’s ironies, Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, a forbidding-looking former lecturer who everyone thinks is the most suitable man for the post, is said to be the least keen.
The clearest signal of this came in the form of a front page report in a Malay daily which had Dewan Ulama chief Datuk Harun Taib saying that Hadi and Nasharuddin should stay on as the No 1 and No 2.
Harun is an influential hardliner from Terengganu who is aligned to Tuan Ibrahim and his statement was read as a signal that Tuan Ibrahim may not go for the No 2 post, and would remain as a vice-president for now.
Harun, who suffered a stroke last year, is also set to hold on to his Dewan Ulama chief post.
That itself is a sign of where things are heading in the party.
The last party polls settled the debate over whether the ulama should take the top posts or whether top posts should be balanced out between the ulama and the progressives.
The party grassroots made it crystal clear that they wanted the ulama to call the shots.
The “Leadership by the Ulama” trend will continue.
The ulama stream in the party look set to extend their hold over the party and assert their goal of an Islamic state.
They have been deeply unhappy about the way the party’s Islamic agenda has been hijacked by the pluralism of Pakatan Rakyat politics.
For instance, many of them were furious over the episode involving DAP’s member of Parliament for Serdang, Teo Nie Ching, speaking in a surau.
They feel that too many compromises have been made in the name of a promise of political power and to borrow a stock market term, a major correction may be due.
The ulama leadership trend will be reflected in the Dewan Pemuda where incumbent chief Nasrudin Hassan has entrenched his position.
He is a controversial figure outside the party where he has been mocked for his ultra conservative views, including his opposition to Muslims celebrating Valentine’s Day. In the party though, he is a leading opinion-shaper.
But, central committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the muktamar should reflect the dynamics of the new politics and show the way forward.
“This is the era of disclosure and accountability. Clarity of direction and access to information is the rule of the day.
“We cannot do things in a hush-hush way and hope that people will keep quiet and toe the line. I hope the delegates will be discerning and vote in the right mix of leaders,” he said.
And despite the powerful Mustafa’s insistence of a “normal affair” ahead, the signs are that the conservatives are about to show who is really in charge and it will have major repercussions for their allies in Pakatan. -TheStarOnline
