Does Pakatan back Mahathir era’s policy on Islamic values?

(FMT) – The public deserves an answer to the question, says ex-MP Tawfik Ismail.

A former MP is demanding that Pakatan Harapan state its stand on the policy of infusing Islamic values into administrative procedures, which was introduced when PPBM chairman Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister and PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim was his deputy.

Tawfik Ismail, who was the MP for Sungai Benut between 1986 and 1990, claimed that Mahathir’s Dasar Penerapan Nilai-Nilai Islam caused deep divisions between the different races and even within the Muslim community.

Now that Pakatan was preparing for a major convention, he said, it should respect the public’s right to know where it stood on the matter.

“While the idea of instilling Islamic values is laudable, not much thought was given to its implementation,” he told FMT. “Mahathir and Anwar are both big on ideas but not so hot on the follow through.”

When the policy was introduced in 1985, Mahathir said that since Islam was the official religion of the country, Islamic values ought to be applied in administration in order to increase the quality of the government’s work.

Tawfik noted that when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi came to power and promoted Islam Hadhari (Civilisational Islam), both Mahathir and Anwar belittled the effort.

“They mobilised hardliners in order to discredit him,” he claimed. “Why would the two of them be any different in 2018? That’s the danger in trusting Pakatan. It’s like riding a tiger.”

Tawfik also took Pakatan to task for alleged lack of firmness in opposing PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s tabling of a private member’s bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, intended to arm shariah courts with greater powers.

“It was deeply disappointing that the Malay and Muslim MPs in Pakatan did not stand up against Hadi,” he said, alleging that the bill was unconstitutional.

“If Pakatan MPs cannot uphold their oath to defend the constitution, then there is little to choose between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan.

“The battle for the Malay vote and, at the moment, the fear of going against the ulama version of Islam by both sides is a disappointment to progressive Malays as well as other ethnic groups.”

When asked what he thought of Malay voters opposed to his idea of progressive thinking, Tawfik questioned whether these Malays had become conservative by choice or coercion.

“Progressive Malays have not been given the opportunity to sell their ideas to voters,” he said.

The Pakatan convention is slated for this weekend and will be its second convention since the coalition was formed in 2015.

However, this will be the first time PPBM will be featured in the convention as a component party. It formally joined the coalition last March.

Mahathir, who is PPBM chairman, was also named the coalition’s chairman in July while Anwar was named Pakatan’s de facto leader.