In memory of Fadzil Noor

AUG 4 — The roaring Reformasi days a decade ago had many unsung heroes; one of them was the late Pas president Datuk Fadzil Noor. On Sept 2, 1998, the nation was shocked and confused. Having just been through the 1990s with the memories of a menteri besar carrying a massive amount of cash into Australia while another allegedly had sex with a minor, it is not surprising that some held the view that of the many allegations against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, one or two must be true. Pas leaders were no exception. (I suspect that only until the mattress was brought in and out of the court during the Anwar trial that all and sundry were convinced that it was a farce.) Fadzil and Anwar had a long lasting friendship since their Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) days in the 1970s to the extent that Anwar's eldest daughter Nurul Izzah was named by the Pas stalwart. But such a relationship was not shared by others in Pas. They saw no need to come to Anwar's defence. Undeniably, during Anwar's 16 years in the government, he was Pas's arch rival. Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad recruited Anwar in 1982 as his answer to Pas's Islamic agenda. On the day Anwar was summarily sacked from all his positions in the government on the pretext of corruption, misuse of powers, sodomy and womanising; Fadzil made a bold move. He visited Anwar at his official residence to offer moral support. Fadzil did not inform his party comrades of the visit. He switched off his hand phone and no one could locate him on that fateful night. Pas leaders only came to know about Fadzil's visit from the newspapers. Days later, according to Subky Latif's memoir of Fadzil Noor, at the party central committee meeting, Fadzil was quizzed "as if facing a tribunal." Fadzil took a great personal and political risk by aligning himself and Pas to Anwar. He went further, forming the Majlis Gerakan Keadilan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerak) — an umbrella body of political parties and NGOs and one of the two forerunners of the Barisan Alternatif along with Gagasan Demokrasi Rakyat — without the approval of the Pas central committee. Both loose coalitions were formed on Sept 27, 1998, exactly a week after Anwar was arrested. Essentially, Fadzil provided the Reformasi movement one of its most important organisational supports in the early days. The impact of the Anwar crisis on Pas was indeed spectacular and beyond the comprehension of the party leaders at the onset. Fadzil's daring political move paid off. The party doubled its membership in a year. Between its birth in 1951 and the end of the 1980s, Pas had registered 300,000 members, reaching 400,000 in 1997 and about 450,000 prior to September 1998. The party now claims a membership of one million. The party's organ Harakah increased its circulation from the pre-Reformasi peak of 72,000 copies during the Arau by-election in July 1998 to 380,000 copies in 1999, contributing a useful stream of income to the party coffers. These changes eventually contributed to the party's extraordinary performance in the 1999 election. Pas won 27 parliamentary and 98 state seats then. Fadzil may not be the most charismatic speaker in ceramahs. But he is better remembered as a master strategist, as well as a coalition builder who played a major role in the formation of the BA, which put the Islamic state agenda — anathema to non-Muslims and swing voters — on the backburner. In the aftermath of the 1999 election euphoria for Pas, Fadzil cautioned the party that the results were not a positive support for what Pas stands for, but rather a negative vote for Umno. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 65 in June 2002. Otherwise, Pas's stance on the second Anwar "trial" and the current Umno-Pas talks would probably be more straight forward and less confusing. Liew Chin Tong is the DAP MP for Bukit Bendera.