DAP leaders feel angry and betrayed by PAS Kelantan leaders and several of its pro-UMNO national leaders for its dishonesty, deceit and treachery by turning its back on PR and instead willing to trust UMNO to implement the Shariah Criminal Code II Enactment or hudud laws. Instead of the promised 4 amendments to the original 1993 hudud laws as promised to PR leaders during the final PR Leadership Council meeting chaired by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on 8 February 2015, PAS tabled the entire hudud bill with the full 71 clauses.
DAP firmly opposes the implementation of hudud laws not because it is Islamic, but because hudud is unconstitutional and contrary to our Federal Constitution. The Federal Constitution clearly spells out that even though Islam is the religion of Malaysia, Malaysia is not an Islamic state. The highest court, the Supreme Court in 1988 in the case of Che Omar bin Che Soh v Public Prosecutor, had reaffirmed that Malaysia is not an Islamic state.
The issue is now not merely about hudud laws, which as a matter of principle and policy is firmly opposed by the DAP, but also on the trust and honesty of some PAS national leaders and the reliability of their promises. Can DAP continue to co-operate with some of these PAS national leaders on the PR national platform when their promises and words have no value and are no different from UMNO’s?
By falling into UMNO’s trap to betray PR’s consensus and common policy in passing hudud laws in the Kelantan State Assembly, PAS Kelantan may have destroyed its electoral prospects in Kelantan but it has brought closer UMNO’s dreams of destroying PR. UMNO Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom had instigated PAS to implement hudud laws on Muslims in Kelantan by promising the Federal government’s support in Parliament on March 27 2014.
Why should MCA and Gerakan blame PAS alone, but dare not adopt former MCA Deputy Minister Datuk Gan Ping Shieu’s suggestion to punish UMNO by severing ties, when UMNO not only supported PAS but instigated PAS to implement hudud?
Despite knowing that passing the hudud laws again in Kelantan would jeopardize PR’s existence, PAS had decided to throw its lot with UMNO and trust UMNO. By passing hudud laws with UMNO’s support, PAS has removed hudud as an issue in Kelantan. Since UMNO has also supported hudud laws, hudud is no longer an issue against UMNO in Kelantan.
UMNO Kelantan can now bring back the people’s focus on BN’s main asset of bringing development in contrast to the poor governance by the PAS Kelantan government, a failure of governance that was highlighted during the extraordinary floods last year. Even the Merdeka Centre survey showed that 81% Malay/Muslim respondents think that the Kelantan state government should concentrate on repairing and rebuilding homes of flood victims rather than on implementing hudud. There is simply no substitute for good governance as Malaysians generally seek a better life for their children.
This 81% Malay/Muslim support for flood rescue and repairs over hudud laws is in line with Merdeka Center’s previous survey in April 2014, that a majority (58%) of Malay respondents thought that the country is not ready for hudud implementation. At the same time, any remaining non-Muslim support for PAS has completely disappeared, unlike the delusional remarks made by PAS national leader that PAS still has a place in the hearts of non-Muslims.
PAS Kelantan will have to be responsible for their own fate in the hands of Kelantan voters. However it is also significant that such acts of betrayal by PAS Kelantan and some PAS national leaders may have also sealed the fate of PR, and not just PAS in Kelantan. DAP wishes to stress that our anger at the betrayal by PAS Kelantan and some national PAS leaders is not directed at the entire PAS membership, who are generally principled and honest.
I have directed on Tuesday that an emergency DAP Central Executive Committee(CEC) meeting be called this coming Monday night to discuss the party’s position vis-à-vis PAS. In the democratic spirit, the national leadership will allow party leaders at state and national levels to express their views on this matter privately or publicly to be discussed at the Monday night meeting.