[1] There was a grudging consensus amongst Malay opposition parties who gathered recently to forge yet another lose coalition (Ikatan Prihatin Rakyat) that unless they are able to reach beyond their Malay-majority support base, victory at the polls will remain elusive. 

[2] This is not the first time that the significance of the non-Malay vote has been highlighted. PAS, in particular, has been talking about it for years. One of its early slogans – “PAS FOR ALL” – spoke of its aspiration to win non-Malay support. But thus far it has been all talk. The party has not taken any meaningful steps to engage non-Malay voters. They know that compromises will have to be made but they do not seem ready as yet to make them. 

[3] Instead of sitting down and discussing what it would take to win the non-Malay vote, they have adopted a strategy of deception and duplicity. They give the impression that they are open and accepting of non-Malays while holding on to their discriminatory and extremist policies. They appear to think that empty rhetoric and superficial arrangements with a few rather insignificant non-Malay parties like Gerakan is enough to swing non-Malay votes their way. This approach has as much chance of success as a snowball in hell. 

[4] PAS has made – and continues to make – so many egregious comments about non-Malays and non-Muslims that they are going to have to do a lot more to win non-Malay support. Truth be told, so much of the party’s agenda is anathema to non-Malays. Gathering a few non-Malay leaders to sit around the table with them will not make any difference.

[5] What non-Malays want is not complicated or difficult to comprehend. They want to be respected as equal citizens. They want to see their cultures, their languages, their religions accepted and appreciated as part of the Malaysian identity. As taxpayers, they want access to a fair share of the nation’s wealth and its opportunities. As voters and citizens, they don’t want to see their votes diluted through gerrymandering or be denied fair representation in the civil service, academia and other spheres of national life. And they certainly don’t want to be constantly harassed by religious authorities. 

[6] All these things were part of the Merdeka covenant and is embodied in the Federal Constitution. Over time, however, these fundamental rights have been eroded, distorted and denied.

[7] Let’s be clear: non-Malays don’t want to challenge the constitutional position of the Malay rulers, the status of Islam or other Malay rights and privileges enshrined in the Constitution. What they want to see is an equal acceptance of all the non-Malay rights that are also enshrined in the constitution. After all, Article 153 of the Federal Constitution speaks not just about safeguarding the special position of the Malays but the legitimate interests of other communities as well. If there’s real political will, finding the right balance between Malay and non-Malay aspirations is not an impossible task despite the polarized state of our nation. 

[8] Although PAS is not the only party to engage in the systematic marginalization of non-Malays, it is by far the worst and most menacing because it also exploits religion to justify the exclusion and demonization of minorities. No surprise then that non-Malays continue to see the current government as the lesser of two evils.

[9] Until PAS is willing to commit to respecting the multiethnic fabric of our nation and the rights of non-Malays, they are never going to be taken seriously by non-Malay voters. It’s a pity because without a credible opposition voters will be stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

[Dennis Ignatius |Kuala Lumpur | 26^th October 2025]