It was reported on Jan 18 that in response to calls on the government to uphold the 10-point solution following the Jan 2 Jais’s raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Sukri said that it was a matter for the state government to resolve as religion came under the jurisdiction of the state.
Yesterday Youth and Sports Minister repeated the same point, that federal government stood by its commitment to the 10-point solution pertaining to the issue and it had no power to interfere in Jais’s raid.
Is this a satisfactory response from the government?
The response can best described as disappointing and even irresponsible.
Health Minister Datuk Subramanim was quoted to say that the Cabinet did discuss the issue on January 8 and that the Prime Minister would announce a Cabinet decision on the public concerns arising from the issue of non Muslims using the kalimah Allah. He said the Cabinet decided that only one voice would speak. So why has the one voice been silent till today?
It is time that the Prime Minister must speak up and provide answers to the following questions:
- When the Cabinet came out with the 10 point solution, was it not meant to cover all states?
- If the 10 point solution cannot be enforced in some states, why is the federal government not prepared to do what is necessary to rectify the situation?
- When so many quarters, including the government set up National Unity Consultative Council have said that Jais’s raid on Bible Society of Malaysia was in total disregard of the Cabinet’s 10 point solution, why can’t the Cabinet at the very least call on religious authorities to respect the solution?
- Is the federal government now officially saying that the 10 point solution is not enforceable in most states and state authorities can violate the solution?
- Was the solution a political expediency, announced then merely for and due to the 2011 Sarawak state election?
It is not enough or acceptable for the federal government to say that it stands by the 10 point solution yet does nothing to ensure compliance and enforceability in all states.
After former MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek recently criticised his successor Liow Tiong Lai for violating an agreement they both signed before the Dec 21 party election, many people have joked that the agreement was a piece of useless agreement .
Prime Minister has a responsibility to prevent the Cabinet approved 10 point solution from becoming the butt of a joke, like how the MCA leaders’ agreement has become.
A cabinet solution must not become “a solution without solution to the problem”.
Since the Cabinet has decided to stand by the 10 point solution, then it must do what is necessary to ensure that it is an effective, workable and enforceable solution.