PAS lost non-Muslim vote with hudud move, says Guan Eng

(Malay Mail Online) – PAS has lost its non-Muslim support when it passed the amendments to the Hudud Bill in Kelantan, DAP’s Lim Guan Eng said today.

The DAP secretary-general believed that any remaining support for PAS has disappeared when it tabled and passed the Bill yesterday, and that the Islamist party was delusional if it believed otherwise.

“Such acts of betrayal by PAS Kelantan and some PAS national leaders may have also sealed the fate of PR, and not just PAS in Kelantan,” the Penang chief minister said in a statement.

He said PAS Kelantan may also have destroyed its electoral prospects in Kelantan in the next general election by pushing through amendments to the Shariah Criminal Code II Enactment.

“Despite knowing that passing the hudud laws again in Kelantan would jeopardise PR’s existence, PAS had decided to throw its lot with Umno and trust Umno,” he said.

Lim said PAS had promised to make only four amendments to the original 1993 hudud laws during the final PR Leadership Council meeting chaired by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on February 8 but had betrayed the alliance by tabling the entire hudud bill with the full 71 clauses.

“DAP leaders feel angry and betrayed by PAS Kelantan leaders and its few pro-Umno national leaders by turning its back on PR to table the Bill,” he said.

DAP will discuss on Monday the party’s position in relation to PAS and its betrayal to PR by tabling and passing the hudud bill in Kelantan.

Lim said the issue is now not merely about hudud laws, which is firmly opposed by the DAP, but on the trust and honesty of some PAS national leaders and the reliability of their promises.

“Can DAP continue to co-operate with some of these PAS national leaders on the PR national platform when their promises and words have no value and are no different from Umno’s?” the DAP secretary-general asked.