Sabah PAS kicked out of state Pakatan Rakyat

(The Star) – PKR and DAP have ejected PAS from the Sabah Pakatan Rakyat as they do not agree with PAS’ hudud agenda for Malaysia.

Sabah PKR headed by Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin (pic) and state DAP chairman Jimmy Wong have informed Sabah PAS that they would no longer work together with the Islamist party as the hudud implementation was against the Constitution that also safeguards Sabah’s rights.

“We have cut all ties with PAS,’’ Lajim told reporters after the three parties met at the PKR headquarters here on Monday.

But Sabah PAS represented by its secretary Awang Liaman Ikin and deputy commissioners Dr Ali Hassan and Hamid Ismail left withour staying on to meet with reporters over the decision.

“PAS maintained that it stood by the Islamist party’s national policy for the implementation of hudud. Both PKR and DAP decided that they cannot work with PAS in Sabah if the Islamist party insists on the hudud agenda,’’ Lajim said.

When asked if they had the green light from their respective party central committees over the move, Lajim said that both Sabah PKR and Sabah DAP had autonomous powers and they had made their own decision.

“I have just WhatsApp party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail about our decision and she has responded that she would leave to him (Lajim),’’ he said.

Wong said that they were keeping with the party’s national decision on hudud.

Asked why at national level DAP was maintaining ties with PAS in the PR-led state governments, but breaking away only in Sabah and Sarawak, Wong said that Sabah DAP was standing with a 20-point assurance under the Malaysia Agreement and the promise of religious freedom in Batu Sumpah.

In announcing their decision to cut ties with Sabah PAS, Lajim said that PKR and DAP were against the implementation of hudud in Malaysia as there was no need for its introduction for now.

“We have taken into account various factors and the current political situation and it is with a heavy heart to cut ties with PAS,” he said, adding that he did not rule out the possibility of a new coalition.

“I want to make it clear that Muslim leaders in PKR are not rejecting hudud as it is in the Quran. But we do not think it should be implemented in Malaysia.

“We had hoped that PAS would not push its objective of implementing the Syariah law. Now, it’s clear that the party is very serious about it. That is why we will find it difficult to continue working with them (PAS),’’ Lajim said.

Sabah DAP secretary Dr Edwion Bosie and Sabah PKR secretary Datuk Maijol Mahap had also supported the decision to kick PAS out of the Opposition coalition.

Sabah PAS has no seats and has little influence on the state’s political landscape so far.