On AMT’s Qualified Endorsement

By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
CA

After weeks of confusion, a split in its ranks and an intensive pressure from the Muslim community, the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections - Political Action Committee (AMT-PAC) October 21 called on Muslims nationwide to vote for Sen. John Kerry. However it called its move as a ‘protest vote’ to safeguard civil rights of the Muslim community.

An AMT-PAC statement issued in Washington stressed that “because pluralism is based on partial agreements, support for Sen. Kerry is premised on our overall effort to help restore liberty and justice for all.”

The AMT pointed out that despite disagreements with Sen. Kerry on some domestic and international issues, including the war in Iraq, it is willing to work with him to help restore due process and equal justice in accordance with the US Constitution.

The AMT acknowledged the considerable outreach to the Muslim community by Sen. Kerry’s campaign, particularly by his campaign co-chair Sen. Edward Kennedy and appreciated the ongoing dialogue with Muslim leaders about problems posed by the USA PATRIOT Act.

The AMT’s belated endorsement is a welcome development because it responded to the aspirations of the Muslim community. However, the question remains: how the qualified endorsement of AMT is going to affect the Muslim voters, majority of whom have already made up their mind to support Kerry? Michael Meehan, a Kerry campaign spokesman, has made this point very clear when he said endorsements were helpful, but “at this late point in the election cycle, we are trying to turn supporters into voters and recent polling shows we have support among American Muslims 10-to-1.”The AMT endorsement came after a major split in its ranks when the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) a major component of the AMT quit the coalition quietly after it refused to support endorsement to any presidential candidate. MPAC was one of the three organizations that envisaged, at the ISNA convention of 2003, the establishment of AMT as a successor to the American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC) that announced its support to Bush in 2000 elections. The other two groups were American Muslim Alliance (AMA) and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Apparently, a unanimous AMT decision was not possible in the presence of MPAC, hence it was forced to leave the coalition. Only one day before the AMT endorsement, the MPAC issued a long statement about its decision of not endorsing any presidential candidate saying: “An endorsement is far too important to give away without delivering solid promises to the community that their interests will be of paramount importance to the next President. Leaders of other religious and ethnic communities throughout our country do not endorse unless they receive such promises. We should not be any different.”

Alluding to the many opinion polls and persistent media reports, the MAPC statement acknowledged that it trusts the political judgment and maturity of American Muslim voters and added: “In this election, Muslim voters must vote their conscience based on what is best for themselves, their communities and their country. Our decision not to endorse a candidate in the 2004 Presidential election must not be viewed as a directive for American Muslims to reconsider their decision. Rather it is a reminder that although candidates are willing to take our votes, they are not yet willing to announce such to the country.”

Despite MPAC’s departure, the AMT still maintains 10 members as a marginal group, Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA), was quietly inducted to fill the MAPC slot. AMT includes: American Muslim Alliance (AMA), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), Muslim American Society (MAS), Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA), Muslim Student Association-National (MSA-N), Project Islamic Hope (PIH), and United Muslims of America (UMA).

The AMT-PAC is an affiliated political action committee of the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT).

(Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Executive Editor of the online magazine American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com)


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