Chandra Muzaffar: BN blundered in handling PAS’ hudud issue

(The Star) – The Barisan Nasional Government blundered in the way it handled the issue of PAS’ hudud, said Dr Chandra Muzaffar.

Speaking at a forum on hudud organised by the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation, the academician and political activist said that the way the ruling Government handled the situation lacked judgment, understanding and maturity.

Dr Chandra also said Minister at the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom should have never said, in Parliament, that the Government was prepared to give way to any state in Malaysia to implement hudud.

“That was an invitation. You can now present the Bill, but once it is presented how are Umno MPs going to vote on it?” he said, in reference to the private member’s Bill that PAS wanted to present to pave the way for implementation of hudud in Kelantan.

“They either abstain, which would be used against them, or they would vote for it,” he said.

Dr Chandra said that the Bill will still be presented and it was only postponed for now.

“This will place the Umno MPs in a very difficult situation. They have to be seen as supporting this particular Bill,” he said.

He added that if BN was thinking of politicking with hudud, they had to think about the consequences.

“Even if they thought about it in terms of politics, this is a total blunder. This is because the power base of BN is in Sabah and Sarawak and not the Peninsula.

“If the power base shifts, BN will collapse,” he opined.

He added that he did not see how BN was going to extract itself from this particular situation.