Pendang and Anak Bukit by-election results – time for the political centre to be strengthened to preserve the 1957 Merdeka Constitution, the “social contract” and 1963 Malaysia Agreement that Islam is the official religion but Malaysia is not an Islamic State


Media Conference Statement (2)
by Lim Kit Siang

(Penang, Friday) The Pendang and Anak Bukit by-elections, with a “1-1” score for Barisan Nasional and PAS, has a plethora of mixed messages for the political future – both immediate and long-term. 

A “2-0” win by Barisan Nasional would not be good for the country, for it would be exploited as an endorsement for the “929 Declaration” by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad that Malaysia is an Islamic State -  which is an unilateral, arbitrary and  tectonic shift from the 44-year fundamental constitutional principle and nation-building cornerstone that Islam is the official religion but Malaysia is not an Islamic state -  that the Anwar Ibrahim issue is dead and that the Barisan Nasional government is mandated to continue with its “911 abuses” to  resort to more undemocratic measures which violate  human rights, undermine the rule of law and flout the most elementary notions of fair play and justice. 

But a “2-0” score by PAS immediately after the equally unilateral and arbitrary passage of the Terengganu Syariah Criminal (Hudud and Qisas) Bill  would be disastrous, as it would be used to claim increasing support for  the Terengganu Enactment which is: 

In the circumstances, the best result in a very unhappy political situation in the two Kedah by-elections yesterday  is probably  the “1 – 1” score, with Barisan Nasional losing Anak Bukit and the two-thirds Kedah State Assembly majority, highlighting the need for greater popular check and balance to protect democracy (including disapproval of the arbitrary and unilateral “929 Decaration”); and the PAS loss in Pendang, illustrating the unacceptability of the Terengganu PAS hudud and qisas enactment and for a halt to the unhealthy  PAS-UMNO competition to “out-Islam” each other. 

PAS has suffered the greater setback than UMNO  in losing one of the two seats it won in the 1999 general election.  PAS should return to the 1999 Barisan Alternative Common Manifesto on the restoration of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance, where each subscribing party committed itself to the fundamental principles of the 1957 Constitution and 1963 Malaysia Agreement – which means no Islamic State or hudud and qisas laws – and undertake not to pursue the hudud and qisas enactment in Terengganu unless there is  national multi-racial and multi-religious consensus. 

But PAS is not the only casualty – as Parti Keadilan Nasional may be the greater loser although it did  not directly contest in anyone of the two Kedah by-elections, for two reasons: 

For UMNO, the results also produce a mish-mash of consequences. The most immediate is whether Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would announce his No. 2 as he indicated before the by-elections, and if so, whether he would hew to the choice publicly announced by Mahathir – Datuk Seri Najib Razak. 

Be that as it may, the most important message from the two Kedah by-elections is the urgent need to strengthen the political centre in Malaysia to preserve the 1957 Merdeka Constitution, the “social contract” and 1963 Malaysia Agreement that Islam is the official religion but Malaysia is not an Islamic State. 

DAP is prepared to work with all political parties, whether in Barisan Nasional or Barisan Alternative, to strengthen this political centre and, in the words of the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman and the third Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn, in February 1983, ensure that Malaysia is not “turned” into an Islamic state. 

(19/7/2002)


*Lim Kit Siang - DAP National Chairman