The hudud issue and mitigation of it by PAS signals that the heat of election is drawing nearer. Fixation with the hudud debate somehow would eventually result in the three parties of Pakatan Rakyat failing to see eye to eye with one another.
There goes the ‘colorful’ unity coherence of ideologies, beliefs, races and religions of the opposition party coalition. With that five-letter word, all of their effort and hard work of trying to ‘dethrone’ its archrival Barisan Nasional for a change which has been burning in the hearts of those hopeful Malaysians may be gone.
The Hudud
So what is hudud? Hudud is the word often used in Islamic literature for the bounds of acceptable behavior and the punishments for serious crimes. In Islamic law or Sharia, hudud usually refers to the class of punishments that are fixed for certain crimes that are considered to be "claims of God" They include theft, fornication, consumption of alcohol, and apostasy.
A simmering feud within Pakatan over hudud started to crop up again after Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat rekindled PAS' longstanding wish to implement the Islamic law in Kelantan. The issue came to a boiling point after PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim came out to back the Kelantan government's push for hudud law to be enacted in the longtime PAS-county.
No one should be under the illusion that PAS has abandoned its hudud goal. Its espousal of a welfare state instead of a hudud-committed Islamic state is a crafty political tactic geared towards winning the non-Muslim votes. If one remembers correctly, the championing of hudud has been a bittersweet journey for PAS, with NO light at the end of the tunnel just yet. As soon as it came to power in Kelantan in 1990 PAS sought to introduce hudud. It did the same thing in Terengganu in 1999, after its victory in the 10th General Election, even though the common manifesto PAS shared with its other Barisan Alternatif partners made no mention of hudud or an Islamic state.
A simmering feud within Pakatan over hudud started to crop up again after Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat rekindled PAS' longstanding wish to implement the Islamic law in Kelantan. The issue came to a boiling point after PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim came out to back the Kelantan government's push for hudud law to be enacted in the longtime PAS-county.
No one should be under the illusion that PAS has abandoned its hudud goal. Its espousal of a welfare state instead of a hudud-committed Islamic state is a crafty political tactic geared towards winning the non-Muslim votes. If one remembers correctly, the championing of hudud has been a bittersweet journey for PAS, with NO light at the end of the tunnel just yet. As soon as it came to power in Kelantan in 1990 PAS sought to introduce hudud. It did the same thing in Terengganu in 1999, after its victory in the 10th General Election, even though the common manifesto PAS shared with its other Barisan Alternatif partners made no mention of hudud or an Islamic state.
Anwar Backs Hudud
“In principle, I believe it (hudud laws) can be implemented (in Kelantan).
“Looking at specific areas, there is clear guarantee of an administration of justice and it does not in any way infringe on the rights of non-Muslims,” Anwar was quoted telling the reporters.
Anwar also said that he was expressing his personal stand and it was not on behalf of Pakatan. This is the first time Anwar has openly supported the push for hudud law. Pakatan debated the hudud issue but did not come to an agreement because the DAP was voluble in opposing its implementation. Meanwhile, PAS was equally adamant in its hudud stance and is not willing to back down. The lust for power is also the reason why the de facto leader of PKR has given his backing/blessings to PAS’ in its effort to get hudud enacted. The twist in the political plot owing to Anwar’s above statement should really be no surprises to anyone.
“Looking at specific areas, there is clear guarantee of an administration of justice and it does not in any way infringe on the rights of non-Muslims,” Anwar was quoted telling the reporters.
Anwar also said that he was expressing his personal stand and it was not on behalf of Pakatan. This is the first time Anwar has openly supported the push for hudud law. Pakatan debated the hudud issue but did not come to an agreement because the DAP was voluble in opposing its implementation. Meanwhile, PAS was equally adamant in its hudud stance and is not willing to back down. The lust for power is also the reason why the de facto leader of PKR has given his backing/blessings to PAS’ in its effort to get hudud enacted. The twist in the political plot owing to Anwar’s above statement should really be no surprises to anyone.
Karpal and DAP’s Stand
The Opposition leader's controversial endorsement caught DAP by surprise as it had strongly opposed PAS' Islamic state ambition from day one (and by the way things have been going, very likely, forever). Karpal Singh mentioned that the fear among non-Muslims that the implementation of hudud law was a step forward in the creation of an Islamic state was justified. An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law.
It was offensive to the DAP guys for Anwar to be expressing his support for the Kelantan Mentri Besar's move to adopt the hudud criminal code. To add insult to the wound, Jason Ong Khan Lee, who is the Bukit Bendera PKR division head, said DAP should respect PAS on the subject of Islam.
“It is the party's right to champion an Islamic state, as PAS is by formation and nature, an Islamist party,” he was quoted responding to the Karpal and Lim Guan Eng’s statement opposing Nik Aziz on the hudud issue.
DAP apparently had enough of Nik Aziz’s rambling on hudud and turns to PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul HadiAwang to clear the air on the hudud controversy. Karpal said it was important for the PAS president to make a clear stand on the matter. Nik Aziz said the state government would go ahead and set up an Islamic state with or without the support of its Opposition coalition partners. Karpal then openly challenged Nik Aziz’s authority by calling him as PAS' spiritual advisor, and thus is “not part of the leadership proper” in Pakatan and had, therefore, no bearing on the coalition.
Irreconcilable Differences?
The subject was abandoned for lack of consensus as neither the DAP nor PAS were willing to compromise. They met up last Wednesday to yet another less than fruitful meeting. It shows that there is a clear division in Pakatan on the hudud matter as the coalition is unable to agree on a joint stand for voters to consider them in the next general election.
The whole hullabaloo exposed the incongruity of the temporary marriage of convenience that is Pakatan. The vision of DAP is to establish what they call ‘Middle Malaysia’ – a peaceful and prosperous social democracy that can unite its disparate races and diverse religions and cultures.
PAS, on the other hand, is an Islamist political party which aims to establish Malaysia as a country based on Islamic legal theory derived from the primary sources of Islam, the Quran, Sunnah as well as Hadiths. Islamic State of Malaysia, if you want to call it that.
With a general election in the offing, PAS sees it as important to stand up to DAP over hudud to satisfy its traditional clienteles in Kelantan, Terengganu and possibly Kedah – the three Malay states where it wants to retain power. However, Pakatan might want to unsheathe their claws and refrain from scratching each other to make sure that they will still be seen as one entity before the 13th General Election. Now’s certainly not the time for that. Or else, irreconcilable differences would lead to further complications and inevitably a divorce.
The whole hullabaloo exposed the incongruity of the temporary marriage of convenience that is Pakatan. The vision of DAP is to establish what they call ‘Middle Malaysia’ – a peaceful and prosperous social democracy that can unite its disparate races and diverse religions and cultures.
PAS, on the other hand, is an Islamist political party which aims to establish Malaysia as a country based on Islamic legal theory derived from the primary sources of Islam, the Quran, Sunnah as well as Hadiths. Islamic State of Malaysia, if you want to call it that.
With a general election in the offing, PAS sees it as important to stand up to DAP over hudud to satisfy its traditional clienteles in Kelantan, Terengganu and possibly Kedah – the three Malay states where it wants to retain power. However, Pakatan might want to unsheathe their claws and refrain from scratching each other to make sure that they will still be seen as one entity before the 13th General Election. Now’s certainly not the time for that. Or else, irreconcilable differences would lead to further complications and inevitably a divorce.
YY : PAS tau 'pelanggan' tradisional mereka di Kelantan mula jauh hati dengan mereka sejak mereka 'bersetubuh' dengan DAP.. Nak tak nak Hudud mesti dikitar semula dan dijadikan modal politik.
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