6 Key Facts About The New Political Party Formed By Ex-PAS Members
Come 31 August, a new Islamist party called Amanah will be making its mark on Malaysia's political environment.
By Rohini Rajaratnam — 20 Aug 2015, 10:34 AM
413 Selangor PAS members tended in resignations for party post
A total of 413 PAS office bearers across Selangor announced today their resignation from party positions in a bid to ease their leap into a new Islamist party, Amanah, expected end of the month. Those who resigned today comprised 183 office bearers from the Kota Raja parliamentary constituency, 227 members with positions from the Kapar federal constituency and 3 committee members from Klang.
"Now we are still PAS members, just we don't have any position. This is to help the transition for committee members who want to leave and committee members who want to stay," said HB Selangor coordinator Izham Hashim.
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He added that more Selangor office bearer may leave in the coming days, especially from Shah Alam and Kelana Jaya.
PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man acknowledged the resignations, but said in a statement: “PAS central would like to reiterate that there will be no branches that will be dissolved even though leaders and some of its members have left”.
17 AUG: Parti Amanah Rakyat. That is the name for a new breakaway Islamist party formed by former PAS leaders as a pre-cursor to the new opposition coalition Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB)
Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB), or New Hope Movement, is a new group in Malaysia that aims to reboot the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition alliance. Made up of former leaders from Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), the group hopes to take the place of the Islamic party when a new opposition coalition is formed.
1. Amanah is formed by former members and leaders of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), including Mat Sabu and former PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub
2. According to the PAS splinter group, Amanah will bear orange as its official colour in contrast to PAS’s green
As of now, the name and logo of the party have yet to be submitted to the Registrar of Societies (RoS). Once registered, the party can submit its logo to the Election Commission (EC) for registration. Pending its registration, Amanah can function as a Pro-Tem Committee but cannot hold party elections until it’s registered.
"Amanah" actually means "trust" in Sanskrit and Bahasa Melayu.
3. Amanah will be launched on 31 August, coinciding with Malaysia's Independence Day. The party will also unveil its logo on the same day.
Just case you were wondering what's the theme of this year's Merdeka celebration
Image via Melvistrp4. It has been estimated that close to 70% of PAS members from Johor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan will join Amanah when it is established
Besides PAS members from all over the country, Amanah will be made up of leaders from some of the country’s largest Muslim organisations such as the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim), Ikram and Haluan.
themalaysianinsider.com
5. The party is expected to have a ready line-up of leaders at the state level as well as in every parliamentary constituency
6. Amanah is looking at teaming up with DAP and PKR to form a new opposition coalition. Amanah will act as PAS' replacement following Pakatan Rakyat's dissolution.
It was not immediately known whether the alliance would be an informal one like Pakatan Rakyat, or a formal arrangement. Pakatan Rakyat, it was recalled, was not formalized as the Registrar of Societies (RoS) allegedly sat on its application without reportedly assigning any reasons for the delay and/or indecision.
Lawyers familiar with the RoS say that it’s not necessary to register a political party to engage in political activities. Political parties need to be registered only for the purpose of holding party elections but not for carrying out political activities.