Islamist Government in Malaysia: Ideology, Policies, and Competition

• In Event: Religious Institutions, the State, and Society in Muslim-Majority Countries

Abstract

Inclusion-moderation hypotheses suggest that the lure of elected office, and the benefits it offers, persuades radical Islamist groups to moderate their behaviours and ideologies to participate in formal politics. Yet these parties may need to appeal to divergent audiences for electoral support, recommending distinct postures. We find an exemplary such case in Malaysia, where Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, PAS) contests both nationally and at the state level. At the federal level, PAS seeks support within a multi-ethnic, multi-religious polity, working in coalition with either secular, noncommunal parties, for whom an adamantly Islamist stance would be verboten, or Malay-ethnonationalist parties, for whom Islam is salient, but secondary. Meanwhile, PAS competes subnationally in its north-eastern stronghold, where its confirmed Islamism confers strong advantage—but also in other states, with different approaches. And yet across these stages, PAS sustains its underlying ideological consistency, capping the extent of moderation likely, especially on fraught social issues. We explore the extent to which inclusion in national politics amid differing state-level incentives has the moderating effect on Islamist-party behaviour and ideology we might otherwise expect.

Authors

• Meredith L. Weiss, SUNY, University at Albany

• Azmil Tayeb, Universiti Sains Malaysia