Death of Nik Aziz deals fresh blow to Malaysian opposition

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s political opposition, already suffering from the jailing of leader Anwar Ibrahim, received another blow when veteran party spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat died yesterday. He was 84.

Mr Nik Aziz, who led the Islamist opposition Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and was former Kelantan chief minister, died at his home in Pulau Melaka, Kota Baru last night, PAS officials said.

“He passed away on Thursday night. Hope Allah will bless his soul and he will be among the pious in Heaven,” the party said in a statement on its Facebook page.

Mr Nik Aziz had been treated in hospital in recent weeks and his health had been the subject of much attention given his influence in the party as well as his commitment to the opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

The 84-year-old had been suffering from prostate cancer and had undergone chemotherapy in 2012.

While it is too early to tell what its effect will be on the political alliance, analysts previously said there would be an impact on both PAS and PR.

“His distrust of UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) decided the course of Malaysian politics to a very large extent, along with his reputation for being a clean-living, humble and principled person,” Dr Ooi Kee Beng, deputy director of Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said in an earlier interview. UMNO is the largest party in Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition.

“Nik Aziz commands respect beyond partisan and religious lines. He has been a unifying force in the party and, to a lesser extent, in the opposition coalition. If he is no longer around, there will be one less figure to hold PAS and PR together,” Dr Wong Chin Huat, a political analyst from the Penang Institute think tank, told TODAY previously.

Mr Nik Aziz’s son, Mr Nik Mohamad Abduh, said his father’s health had deteriorated after doctors treated an ulcer on Wednesday night.

A crowd gathered at Mr Nik Aziz’s house in Pulau Melaka after he was sent home at 8.30pm. Among them were PAS vice-president Husam Musa.

Mr Nik Aziz had been the strongest advocate of the PR alliance since its formation in 2008, and also rejected all possibility of PAS cooperating with UMNO.

He had once warned he would spit in the face of any PAS leader who wished to form an alliance with the ruling Malay party, having personally experienced the bitterness of leading PAS after UMNO ejected it from the ruling BN coalition.

He was the most respected leader among his colleagues in the opposition, and now-jailed leader Anwar often flew to Mr Nik Aziz’s home in Pulau Melaka, Kota Baru, to consult him before the opposition made any major decisions or faced internal problems.

He also managed to earn the trust of non-Muslims nationwide and, among other things, supported their right to use the word “Allah” as long as they had no ill intentions.

Born on Jan 10, 1931, Mr Nik Aziz obtained his early education from his own father, who was a religious teacher. He later continued his studies in Darul Uloom Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, India, majoring in the Arabic language.

After earning his first degree, Mr Nik Aziz pursued his postgraduate studies in Al Azhar University, Egypt, and graduated with a Masters of Arts in Islamic jurisprudence.

Upon his return to Malaysia, he worked as a religious teacher and contested his first general election in 1967, the same year he joined PAS.

He won the Kelantan Hilir parliamentary seat (later renamed to Pengkalan Chepa) and retained the seat until 1986.

Mr Nik Aziz was appointed the Kelantan PAS commissioner in 1978 after the party lost the state. He and then PAS president Asri Haji Muda did not see eye-to-eye, and the latter resigned the same year.

Mr Nik Aziz first contested a state seat in 1986. He was appointed the Kelantan Chief Minister after PAS won the state in 1990.

The following year, he was appointed PAS spiritual leader after Haji Yusof Rawa, who had previously held the position, passed away.

Mr Nik Aziz had stepped down as Kelantan chief minister on May 6, 2013, despite winning the Chempaka state seat in the 13th general election.

After he resigned from the post, his health gradually worsened, forcing him to spend many of his days warded at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia in Kubang Kerian. AGENCIES