Malaysia’s PAS preaches ‘racial domination’ to woo young voters

Malaysia’s next general election may well be decided by the country’s millions of young voters and its biggest conservative Islamist party is determined to win them over.For the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), winning young people’s support means dominating the online spaces they inhabit.“Whoever controls [online] media will gain their votes,” said the party’s deputy president, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, in an interview with This Week in Asia.Founded by religious scholars in 1951 amid the struggle for independence from British rule, PAS was created to ensure the voice of political Islam reverberates through Malaysia’s halls of power. From its modest beginnings in Penang, the party’s message – faith as the foundation of governance – is now being heard loud and clear across the Malay heartlands.At the last election in 2022, a “green wave” swept PAS into parliament as Malaysia’s single largest party, capturing 43 seats concentrated in the conservative northern states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu. Green, both the colour of the party and Islam itself, became synonymous with its ascendance.PAS supporters gather with party flags during election nomination day in Pekan in 2018. Photo: AFPNow, PAS is looking to extend its appeal beyond those pious, rural bastions. In the next election, due by early 2028, it aims to become the undisputed home of Malay nationalist politics.