PAS: MCA, Gerakan approved nightspot ban in 1997
(The Malaysian Insider) – PAS today called MCA and Gerakan hypocrites for criticising the Kedah ban on entertainment outlets, pointing out that the two parties had approved the law when it was passed during the rule of the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the state.
“It was this group that supported the enactment in 1997 when it was debated before,” PAS information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said in a statement carried on PAS website Harakah Daily this morning. “Suddenly, they want to become heroes supposedly because they want to protect the rights of the non-Muslims.”
Tuan Ibrahim, who is PAS Pahang commissioner, also countered accusations that the state’s decision yesterday to revoke the ban was due to the Islamist party’s subservience to DAP and dared all BN-controlled states to impose the same restrictions.
Instead, Tuan Ibrahim said it was a smart move because operators had now agreed to help the state government ensure that Muslims would not patronise their outlets and were prepared to be reprimanded if they violated the enactment.
“This is a new chapter because the Kedah government, under PAS’s leadership, has successfully enforced an enactment that benefits the Muslims in the state, something which Umno never achieved despite its long rule,” he said.
Tuan Ibrahim also claimed that Kedah Muslims knew of BN’s failure in this respect, saying the federal ruling pact had never made any effort to create a conducive environment in the state for the Ramadan month.
