INTRODUCTION

The 2018 general elections saw an unprecedented change in Malaysian politics when the then opposition Coalition of Hope (Pakatan Harapan, PH) took control of the federal government and disrupted the six-decade continuous rule of the National Front (Barisan Nasional, BN) coalition. The so-called political tsunami swept across peninsular Malaysia but stopped short of the east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu. The Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (Parti Islam Se-Malaysia, PAS), which contested as a third force, managed to strengthen its hold over Kelantan and wrest Terengganu away from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). This article explains why PAS has been dominant in Kelantan, not just stemming the Peninsula-wide wave of change in 2018, but also durably resisting the rule of the UMNO-led BN federal government for decades as an opposition-controlled state.

PAS has long been known as an ideologically driven regional party since its political influence barely extends beyond its strongholds along the northeastern coast and in northern states of peninsular Malaysia such as Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. These states provide a fertile ground for PAS to mobilize and gain support as they are overwhelmingly Malay-Muslim and are culturally conservative with deeply rooted Islamic traditions. The population of Kelantan, for example, is ninety-six per cent Muslim. It is also a state renowned for its Islamic learning and for producing Islamic scholars (ulama)—so much so that it is dubbed the Serambi Mekah (Verandah of Mecca). Malay and Islamic identities, therefore, play a central role in politics in Kelantan. Political parties of all stripes contending in Kelantan must employ language and rhetoric imbued with Malay and Islamic overtones—both are often tightly intertwined—in order for them to be taken seriously by voters. But as we shall see later in this article, simply projecting one’s Islamic credibility is not enough to entice voters to one’s side, although PAS is certainly good at doing that. More than simply a strong Islamic image, it is PAS’s long-entrenched position in the communities, its well-organized machinery, and extensive political education and outreach efforts that have helped it govern Kelantan for the most part of Malaysia’s post-independence history.