IDEAS chief says he accepted MCA hudud forum invite in ‘good faith’
(The Malaysian Insider) – Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan clarified today that his participation in the MCA forum on hudud does not mean he has anything to do with “any attempt to smear any political parties”.
“I accepted the invitation in good faith, based on the understanding that it will be an open discussion on the topic.
“I did not expect the MCA president to suddenly turn the forum into a propaganda briefing,” Wan Saiful said in a statement.
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said last week that the party will convene a forum for its members on December 4 to counter PAS’s claims on hudud.
“We will discuss PAS’s insistence to implement hudud and also disprove DAP and PKR assertions that hudud will not affect non-Muslims,” he was reported as saying.
Among the speakers at the forum are human rights lawyer Edmond Bon, Wan Saiful and Islamic Renaissance Front research fellow Ahmad Fuad Rahmat.
Dr Chua had cautioned that hudud would have a big impact on everybody if PAS managed to implement the policy.
Wan Saiful said he was invited by the chairman of the MCA research body Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (INSAP), Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn, to be the moderator of the forum.
