Sarawak DAP abandons Pakatan in state over hudud
(Malay Mail Online) – The Sarawak chapter of DAP today exited the Pakatan Rakyat pact in the state to protest PAS’s push for hudud, escalating the open hostilities between the two supposed ally parties.
Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen accused the Islamist party of failing to adhere to the pact’s common policy framework through the unilateral bid to enforce Islamic penal law in Kelantan.
“Therefore, so long as the implementation of hudud law remains the political agenda and aim of PAS, Sarawak DAP can no longer work with PAS as a political party in Sarawak.
“As such, with PAS remaining as a component party of PR Sarawak, Sarawak DAP today resolved and made the painful decision to quit PR Sarawak,” Chong was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama today.
The Sarawak DAP’s decision will have no immediate bearing in the state, where PAS has no presence in the state legislative assembly, but is the latest indication of the deteriorating ties between the two parties.
The DAP Socialist Youth prior to this suspended all co-operation with its PAS counterpart over the hudud issue.
On Monday, DAP pilloried PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for his party’s hudud push, saying it will no longer work with him even as it vowed to remain in the federal opposition pact.
The decision will prevent the PR presidential council from carrying out any policy decisions as consensus agreement is required, but will leave the state administrations of Selangor and Penang undisturbed.
On March 19, PAS-ruled Kelantan passed key amendments to its Shariah Criminal Code II 1993 in a move to enable the eventual implementation of hudud in the Malay-majority east coast state.
Hadi last week served notice to Parliament on the proposed Bill but de facto law minister Datuk Nancy Shukri said it may not make it into the order paper for the current session as there are many others on the schedule.
With DAP and PKR’s rejection, PAS and its 21 MPs in the lower House must rely on all of Umno’s MPs plus more from other non-Muslim parties in order to get a simple majority of 112 votes to get the Bill passed.
