Hudud: Not the end yet

Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily

Although it is postponing rather than giving up, PAS’s decision on the tabling of a private member’s bill seeking for the implementation of hudud in Kelantan has shown its change of attitude.

The party’s change of attitude is actually traceable. Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah stressed on May 7 that the party would not join the BN even though Umno was willing to help the party implement hudud in Kelantan, while PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat wrote on his Facebook that PAS would not work with Umno.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakob also shared the thought, showing that PAS wishes to achieve its goal but still draws a line with Umno.

PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub said on May 10 that the party’s central committee would bring Pakatan Rakyat a good news while accusing Umno of using hudud to split Pakatan Rakyat.

It is believed that with the DAP’s interpretation, PAS realised that Umno’s stand of “not rejecting hudud” is actually serving a political purpose, while some open-minded PAS leaders who understand Umno changed their strategy and convinced the committee to first test Umno’s sincerity with time.

Therefore, as long as the federal government is willing to cooperate in enabling the implementation of hudud, PAS will continue be the focus of the confrontation between the two coalitions.

How long would the Kelantan PAS-federal government technical committee need to take to study the implementation of hudud? If the technical committee eventually concludes that Kelantan lacks conditions to implement hudud, including requiring three or five years to prepare, PAS might get angry with it.

However, the DAP and PKR would be happy to see it as PAS will not give up hudud and only when it is hindered, Pakatan Rakyat would no longer need to be entangled in this issue and can instead focus on their plan of seizing Putrajaya. As for how they should explain to voters and the political line of PAS would be another matter.

A delay might be the wishful thinking of Umno. It tries to split or disintegrate Pakatan Rakyat first before looking for a reason of not assisting PAS to implement hudud. Umno knows that it is the only political party that can assist PAS and thus, it uses it as a bait to lure PAS.

It is not easy for Umno to amend the federal constitution without a two-third majority and thus, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that in the name of Islam, PAS’s Muslim MPs might be able to help the BN in constituency redemarcation and adding more seats. It is obvious that the party wishes to use PAS to gain mutual benefits.

Meanwhile, Chinese-based political parties also hope to gain political advantage and thus, engaged themselves in a word game.

For instance, DAP parliamentary adviser Lim Kit Siang said that the three component parties of Pakatan Rakyat are currently experiencing tough times and if Pakatan Rakyat fails, the possibility of PAS leaving Pakatan Rakyat actually exists.

Meanwhile, MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said that if Umno helps PAS to pass the bill, MCA will re-examine its status in the BN.

The DAP and MCA will not quit Pakatan Rakyat and the BN. They challenge each other, but do not make themselves clear. The so-called principle is mentioned just to make them sound nicer.

There are different views on who have actually fallen into the trap. DAP said that PAS has fallen into a trap of Umno, while the MCA said that the implementation of hudud is a trap set by PAS. In fact, it would not work without the willingness of both.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang suggested at the national congress in November last year that Umno and PAS should hold discussions over Islamic affairs and later, Kelantan Menteri Besar led a delegation to meet Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Putrajaya. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said on March 27 that the federal government was ready to assist Kelantan PAS to implement hudud.

The parties have their own agendas and thus, they continue with the “talks”.

In short, to put it nicely, the hudud issue is a political game and frankly, it is a show to test who is wiser and able to provoke emotions of supporters, as well as the people, and gain votes.

Therefore, political leaders simply ignore racial remarks made by extremist groups as politics has become their primary concern.

Sadly, under the deterioration of politics, racial and religious issues will continue plagueing the country, as well as the people.