New and old friends

By admin-s Last updated Mar 23, 2017

Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily

DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has said the government’s decision to take over the tabling of RUU355 amendment bill in the Parliament shows that Umno is serious about working with PAS.

He says while this would cause the party to lose some of its existing friends, Umno would nevertheless make “new friends”. Does that mean Umno will rather risk the collapse of the BN coalition because of the new friends?

How will the government lose some old friends by taking over the RUU355 amendment bill? If the bill tabled by the government is not unconstitutional, the old friends will not feel offended.

MCA, Gerakan Rakyat, MIC, PBB and other BN component parties have made it clear that they are against the private bill of PAS president Hadi Awang, and if the bill taken over by the government is exactly the same or is unconstitutional, they will also oppose to it.

So, if the government’s bill is not unconstitutional, the other BN components should be able to accept it!

Hadi has proposed to increase the upper limits of syariah courts’ sentences from three years to 30 years in jail, six to 100 strokes of caning, and RM5,000 to RM100,000 fine.

The legal team set up by MCA and local Chinese associations is of the view that this will excessively expand the jurisdiction of syariah courts to beyond that of the civil courts and is therefore unconstitutional.

The key now lies with the content of the government’s amendment bill. Hadi has said that PAS will take a look at the amendment bill drafted by the government first before deciding whether to support it.

We can see that PAS’ bottomline is 30 years in jail, 100 strokes of rotan and RM100,000 fine. Hadi may not accept if the government does not meet this requirement. If after the amendment the syariah courts’ jurisdiction does not reach this threshold, then PAS will not be able to implement hudud in Kelantan.

Zahid has said he would rather make some new friends at the expense of the old ones, hinting that Umno could have accepted PAS’ conditions. To Umno, the old friends are not good enough to help Umno compared to the new ones.

The DPM’s goodwill has been reciprocated. Hadi says if Bersatu were to join Pakatan Harapan, the cooperation between PAS and the party would be formally terminated. Umno can do away with old friends; so can PAS with its new friends.

RUU355 will not be PAS’ only condition, and it is rumored that Umno and PAS have reached some sort of agreement that Umno will give PAS Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Perak and Selangor, while it takes all the other states. Hadi has denied that his party is keen to run only these five states, but says it plans to win at least 40 parliamentary seats to be a truly influential political entity in this country.

It looks like Hadi’s ambition is big enough, trying to bank on the existing commotion in Malaysian politics to fulfill his religious agenda. In the event there is a hung parliament after the next general elections, PAS will very likely show its cards, and if the above five states fall into PAS’ hands, theocracy will take over the whole country as a matter of time.

There are several likely eventualities of an Umno-PAS tie-up. Firstly, the bill now taken over by the government will be adopted in the Parliament to embolden the two parties to deepen their cooperation, including seat distribution in the run-up to the next GE.

Secondly, the bill will not get passed as a result of the objection from other BN components and opposition lawmakers, dealing a severe blow on Umno leaders’ credibility.

No matter how the Dewan Rakyat is going to vote, BN will become divided if the “Hadi version” of amendment bill is tabled. MCA and East Malaysian allies will no longer trust Umno, while Muslim and non-Muslim leaders in the opposition camp will also be divided over this. A major political reshuffle is in the cards.

The chaos that ensues will not give rise to a new government, but BN’s ruling model is inching towards the ultimate demise, and might not even last until GE14!

“Hadi’s version” will not only tear up existing political alliances, but will also divide the society and people, entrenching further the confrontation.