DAP slams PAS over Kedah CNY guidelines
Syed Jaymal Zahiid, The Malaysian Insider
The DAP has lashed out against its allies PAS over the controversial guidelines issued by the Kedah government, calling its ban on adult females from appearing for Chinese New Year stage performances as ridiculous, unacceptable and unwise.
“Not only does the guideline not respect the right of non-Muslims, but it also discriminates against women. The PAS-led Kedah State Government must immediately review and abolish this guideline,” its assistant national public secretary Teo Nie Ching said in a statement.
The PAS-led Kedah administration again saw itself mired in controversy when it recently issued guidelines for the organisers of the 1 Malaysia Chinese New Year Celebration 2013 scheduled for February 15 at the Star Walk Alor Setar in Kedah.
The guidelines included, among other things, the appropriate attire for officers and singers involved. It also stated that performers are encouraged to sing motivational songs and that if extreme singing and dancing activities were to take place, the state government has the right to shut down the programme.
In the past, the Kedah government under Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak (picture) has faced severe criticism, including from fellow Pakatan Rakyat leaders, who deemed his conservative policies as insensitive to non-Muslim rights.
Some had described his administration as a liability to the bloc’s polls preparation while a few had admitted that the controversies could see PR facing an uphill task in defending the rice-bowl state at the 13th general elections.
Teo raised this prospect again, saying that the Kedah PAS government was alienating supporters just months before the bloc takes on its rivals in what will be the keenest polls to date.
“As a matter of fact, it is not the first time that the PR Kedah Government has found itself in this type of controversy.
“It has not only resulted in PR coming under heavy criticism from BN component parties, therefore weakening PR’s chances during GE13, but moves such as these distance the rakyat further away from the administration,” she said.
