Will the axe fall on Harakah's Zulkifli Sulong?

Much is at stake when the PAS annual general assembly meets on 27 Aug. It's not just a matter of Harakah editor-in-chief Zulkifli Sulong and managing director Hishamuddin Yahya facing the chop. At stake is a larger issue: the shrinking space for dissenting voices.

Sections of the PAS membership are expected to call for the duo's resignations and for a restructuring of Harakah. According to a 25 Aug malaysiakini newsreport, some Pas members are apparently unhappy with the way the fortnightly party newspaper is being run. They are upset that some of the paper's contents have apparently gone against the grain of the party's general philosophy. An article by Farish A Noor that questioned the role of the ulamak was cited as a glaring example.

It is indeed understandable for PAS members to expect a party organ such as Harakah to be run like a party publication that reflects and respects the party’s political philosophy. But we would argue that the way the paper treats certain issues reveals to what extent the publication and the party appreciate freedom of expression, dissenting voices and a diversity of views.

One of the attractive features of Harakah thus far has been the space it has allowed (to some extent) for a broad range of voices to appear in the publication. This, in turn, has catered to the need for debates on certain issues - an essential aspect of a democracy. Ideas that are different from the party should not be censored, but challenged head-on in this publication. This would not only indicate an appreciation for democracy, but would also be a mark of political maturity.

Harakah risks losing a sizeable and valuable segment of its readership to whom it could toss certain ideas that may not find space elsewhere. In other words, the opportunity to engage in a useful dialogue regarding issues such as Islam and the state would be lost if Harakah decides to alienate itself from a more mature readership.

This would be a pity. In an environment where dissenting and critical voices are not welcomed in almost all of the mainstream media (thanks to the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the ISA, the OSA, etc), Harakah has a vital role to play in providing some democratic space for the voices in the wilderness to be heard.