‘We should not have doubted Azmin’, Selangor DAP says after bibles return
(Malay Mail Online) – Selangor DAP chief Tony Pua admitted today that because of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s administration, his party had at first been cautious when Mentri Besar Azmin Ali declared his commitment to returning the consignment of seized bibles shortly after taking office.
Pua pointed out that before Azmin took the reins, the previous state government had dithered for some nine months on the issue, without any success.
He said in his own words, Azmin had told a DAP fundraising dinner shortly after he was sworn into office that the “Al-Kitab does not belong to the Muslims” and that “the Bibles must be returned to the Christians”.
“While the categorical commitment by Azmin Ali was certainly welcome and popular, I would be lying if the DAP leaders at the main table did not quietly fear that the new Menteri Besar may have perhaps promised too much too soon,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP recalled in a statement here.
“Our fear was understandable given the failure of the previous Menteri Besar as well as knowing the strength of the entrenched resistance of the opposing forces.”
Any backtracking by Azmin on the pledge would likely be seen as a loss of face for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leadership, Pua added.
“We should not have doubted,” he said. “Azmin Ali was true to his word. His persistence, sincerity and principled pursuit to uphold Pakatan’s political position on the issue and to defend the spirit of the Constitution soon paid off with the return of the Al-Kitabs to the Christian community yesterday.
“What the previous administration could not do for nine months, Azmin Ali did in less than 60 days,” Pua said.
After months of delay, the PR Selangor government under Azmin returned the 351 Malay and Iban language Christian bibles containing the word “Allah” to the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) that were confiscated by its state Islamic enforcers in January this year.
In a tweet, Azmin was pictured giving back the three Malay and Iban-language bibles to the Christian bookstore at Istana Alam Shah in Klang in the morning.
“An amicable resolution to the issue of the seizure of the Malaysia Language Bibles containing the word Allah,” Azmin tweeted from his @AzminAli account, attaching a photograph of the ceremony.
With Azmin’s success in returning the bibles, Pua said today that his party believes the leader will apply the same dedication to the PR cause when governing Selangor.
“The Selangor administration under Azmin Ali’s leadership will go a long way towards resolving the various problems of the rakyat ― from potholes to highways, from rubbish collection to clean governance ― by building a truly competent, accountable and transparent government,” he said.
