No Hudud Agenda: Pakatan Policies Are Clear ????- Kit Siang

Monday, 23 August 2010 12:49 |

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, content in recent times to let Karpal Singh clash with Pas over hudud and the establishment of an Islamic state, waded in yesterday with an emphatic rejoinder.

“DAP’s stand on Malaysia as a secular state has always been consistent. Hudud laws and an Islamic state are not Pakatan Rakyat policies.”

This came a day after Pas spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat declared that Karpal was the lone voice in his party opposing hudud and an Islamic state.

And Nik Aziz asserted this would not harm ties between DAP and Pas, which were allies in Pakatan.

The latest round of debate was sparked by Nik Aziz’s call to implement hudud to rein in cases of baby dumping and other social problems.

Accentuating the DAP-Pas fault lines, Lim alluded yesterday to Pakatan’s “common platform” proclaimed at its convention in Shah Alam on Dec 19 last year.

He said it made no mention of Islamic state and hudud.

In comments posted on his blog yesterday, Lim said questions had again been raised about DAP and Pakatan’s policies on hudud and Malaysia as an Islamic state.

Lim wrote: “PR made a pledge to defend the Federal Constitution, Islam as the religion of the federation, while other religions can be practised peacefully anywhere in the country and protecting the special position of the Malays and the indigenous peoples anywhere, including Sabah and Sarawak,and the legitimate interests of other races in accordance to Article 153.

“PR also made the commitment that religion and other beliefs practised by Malaysians should form the basis of unity that is founded on good universal values.”

Lim said implementing hudud meant a change in policy and any changewould need the agreement of all three component parties.

Lim said that at the convention, Pakatan, among others, had vowed to set up a mechanism to provide solutions to overlapping cases between civil law and syariah, including a royal commission to study all the relevant issues and organise dialogues between the different cultures and religions to strengthen the understanding between them.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the other party in Pakatan, appeared to back DAP on the matter.

PKR communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said implementing hudud was not feasible.

He said this was because the Federal Constitution clearly stated that power over criminal matters rested with the Federal Government and the civil courts.

“The Federal Constitution clearly sets out the two parallel justice systems in the country, which is the civil courts and syariah courts.

“At this stage, while there have been calls to expand the laws to include hudud, crime remains outside the scope of syariah.”

He added that Pakatan had always agreed to refer to the Constitution on matters regarding Islamic law.

Last Updated (Monday, 23 August 2010 16:57)