Decolonizing the North, Cracking the Federation: Inside PAS’s History War (and Madani’s Response)

ISBN-13: 9789815361384 / Angielski / Miękka / 2026 / 42 str.

Amrita Malhi

Opis

This report examines how the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) is converting its regional strength in the northern peninsular states into a new politics infused with a historical sensibility—a “Green Wave” that blends electoral strategy, cultural production and historical revisionism. Through two detailed case studies—Sanusi Nor’s Penang claim and the film Mat Kilau—the report shows how PAS reframes local grievances within a racialized narrative that depicts itself as a decolonizing force and its opponents as colonial legatees. It leverages social media and popular culture to popularize this narrative, shifting the battlefield from electoral contests to national historical narratives where legitimacy and belonging are determined. Recent announcements suggest it will soon attempt to use the courts, too, to prosecute Sanusi’s Penang claim. PAS’s strategy operates on three linked fronts: narrating economic and territorial grievances within a continuous “decolonial” storyline; converting cinematic and visual symbolism into widely circulated historical “knowledge”; and mobilizing claims developed by external fellow travellers to produce political action. The federal Madani government’s response has focused primarily on administrative containment and a future-oriented decolonial narrative pitched through geopolitics and economic growth. These approaches have failed to engage PAS’s creative historiography and contend with institutional weakness, contested universities, and a fragile coalition that favours risk-averse governance and maximizing alliance flexibility. The stakes extend beyond electoral outcomes to the shared structures of meaning that constitute Malaysian nationhood. Policymakers face a strategic choice: continue a containment posture that cedes narrative space to PAS, or invest in a long-term intellectual project that combines institutional revitalization with communications strategies that directly engage the anxieties that PAS is connecting with.