KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — Only the DAP or a new political party formed from Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (PasMa) can save Malaysia from falling headlong down the path of extremist religious “misrule”, former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said today.
A strident critic of hudud, the Kelantan-born politician urged “sensible Malays” who make up the majority of the country’s population to back the predominantly Chinese DAP or the critical pressure group within the Islamist PAS as the political alternative to reclaim their homeland.
“With the passing of the amendments to the Shariah Criminal Code (II) Enactment 1993 in Kelantan—which was unanimously supported by all state politicians whether from PAS, Umno or PKR — we the more sensible Malays must make plans to support a political party that will save us from the rise of a Taliban-style fascism in our politics.
“This resistance can either take the form of a new party comprising Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (PasMa)—if they are truly moderate—or support for DAP, which is the only political party that has displayed some integrity on this matter,” he said in his latest blog post.
Malays in the country are automatically classed as Muslims, under the Federal Constitution, and would be subjected to hudud in Kelantan if the Islamic penal law is passed in Parliament as some PAS legislators hope to do this term.
The one-time Kota Baru representative who has been with both Umno and PKR also warned Malays they faced an uphill battle against these lawmakers whom he branded as “neo-Taliban”.
In his blog post, the man who had once helped the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposite pact draw up its common framework, hit out at the state lawmakers who had voted to pass hudud in Kelantan last week.
“These political leaders have not seen fit to consult anyone at all. They behave as if Malaysia is their exclusive property and no one else matters. They have betrayed the spirit of our nationhood and the letter of our Constitution.
“Loyal Malaysians should not stand for this usurpation of power,” he said.
Zaid noted that the current state of affairs in the country was due to politicians who were no longer fearful of the people, and called on voters to demand their representatives “behave like normal human beings” to return Malaysia to reason and humanity.
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.
The success means PAS is just one step closer to achieving its hudud ambition after it first introduced the Bill in 1993.
The second move will be to seek approval to amend the Federal Constitution to allow hudud to be incorporated into Kelantan’s Shariah laws.
Tonight, DAP’s national central executive committee will hold a meeting to discuss its position in PR following PAS’s hudud manoeuvre in Kelantan.
– See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/for-sensible-malays-only-dap-or-pasma-can-avert-talibanism-says-zaid#sthash.UgNIDlO9.dpuf