PAS, please stop harping on Islamic state issue

Posted by Raja Petra

Saturday, 26 April 2008

PAS’ intention in wanting to continue on its Islamic state agenda in multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia is, therefore, something which I don’t think I want to tolerate. paulsir99@hotmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , BORNEO POST IT must have been two years since we have a little peace and quiet over the Islamic state issue. Or has it been that long? Following uproars from non-Muslims in particular and civil society in general every time PAS raises the subject, top leaders of the Islamic opposition party apparently took note of the voices of discontent, decided to stay sober and stopped harping on it. At least for the past two years, I reckon. Unfortunately this week, a PAS leader brought up the issue again. The party’s Kuala Selangor member of parliament Dr Dzulkifly Ahmad told a national daily that while his party is focusing on Pakatan Rakyat’s agenda of establishing a welfare state, reinstating democracy and good governance, it is not discarding its agenda to set up an Islamic state. Dzulkifly said PAS would not harp on the issue of Islamic state because it was not part of Pakatan agenda, but the Islamic party will not withdraw its key policy platform. But the thing is, by saying that PAS is not harping on the subject, Dzulkifly is, knowingly or unknowingly, harping on the issue again. He made a public statement on it and that means it went public. Thus, the MP was directly harping on the issue which his party elders and superiors have avoided doing so for the past two years. Now, this is not something new. In fact, every time a PAS leader brings up the subject, I am very unhappy. Let me explain. PAS has made its stand very clear. That I respect. They have said it so many times. Islamic state! Islamic state! Islamic state! Okay lah, we can all say, adding the chorus…. yeah, yeah, yeah! I believe that suffices. I respect the party’s stand. After all, it is an Islamic-based party. It is founded on Islam and, naturally, its strength is Islam. Without its religious flavour, PAS cannot survive. Seriously, if I were a Muslim and keen on politics, I would probably sign up with PAS. Many of its leaders and members are good, sound Muslims and their public behaviour and lifestyle are exemplary. I have personally witnessed how some PAS leaders conduct themselves in public and I appreciate their kindness and care for those around them. This I say sincerely from my heart. But I would not agree with the party’s agenda for an Islamic state. No, never! I must be truly aware of the religious sensitivities of my fellow Malaysians who are not Muslims and should not impose my religious beliefs into their way of life. PAS’ intention in wanting to continue on its Islamic state agenda in multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia is, therefore, something which I don’t think I want to tolerate. PAS leaders have often explained that they have been misunderstood and that people do not understand the meaning of an Islamic state. The party can explain to non-Muslims but they will still consider the creation of an Islamic state as imposing Islamic values and laws into their lives — and they do not wish for that to happen. However, let’s also look at the bright side of the issue. It’s true that we always have solutions to all negatives in the country. Same goes for this controversial Islamic state issue. Let us consider it a blessing that PAS will never form the federal government single-handedly. Even at the final count on the March 8 polls, when the BN coalition suffered its worst electoral results, PAS could only manage to win 23 seats. With 222 seats in our parliament, PAS will need 112 to form the federal government with a simple majority. I just do not see that happening — not in my lifetime, I think. Sorry, PAS! So why then are some PAS people still broaching an issue that will only remain a dream. My conclusion — it is politics! PAS is still a political party, playing politics they know best in order to attract support from the masses. What I’m also sad and concerned about every time this subject is raised is the heated public debate that follows it, mostly by politicians. So I’m not at all surprised to hear DAP chairman Karpal Singh fire the first salvo at Dzulkifly Ahmad’s public remarks on the issue. Karpal said the PAS leader’s statement does not advance the cause of the Pakatan Rakyat, adding that it was best that PAS ceases from publicly insisting that Malaysia should be turned into an Islamic state. According to Karpal, then Lord President Tun Salleh Abas delivered the judgment of a strong five-man bench of the Supreme Court in 1988 declaring that Malaysia was not an Islamic state, but a secular state having secular laws. Happily, PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa sounded more liberal. He stated recently that the Islamic state, a controversial agenda which often caused ideological tiffs between PAS and DAP, shall remain a ‘guidance’ for its members at the party level. “PAS members need an idealism to serve as their reference. Islamic state is that idealism which differentiate our members from other political parties,” he told a news portal in a recent interview. Whatever, I hope that PAS leaders will stop harping on the issue publicly as that is bound to evoke responses to the contrary. Heated public debates on a religious matter will not do this multi-religious nation of ours any good. So please put an end to it, PAS. But there is nothing to prevent PAS people from broaching the issue internally within the party.

'Himpunan Pemimpin Bersama Rakyat.' at Perak Stadium Ipoh

Monday, April 14, 2008

'Himpunan Pemimpin Bersama Rakyat.' at Perak Stadium Ipoh

The MB of Perak hosted the event for 5 MBs and CM from Perak, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan and Selangor last night at Stadium Perak

The MB's of Penang, Kelantan and Selangor could not make it. However another "event will be planned and these absent MB's would be invited again..." The rakyat of Perak applauded positively when the MC asked if the absent MB's would be wellcome for a 2nd round....

The supporters / traders started arriving around lunch time....


..these PAS personel from 'Unit Amal' Perak branch were on hand to ensure work and traffic were being arranged accordingly...they actually did a great job....


..the scene at 7pm....getting ready for the evening prayers...

..on the track....in front of the grandstand...


..muslimin and muslimat....note the aisles behind are still empty....

..this is my first time witnessing such a scene at Perak Stadium...

..prayers are done......

...everyone arranges their mats on the field....looked like a carnival under the bright floodlights..


,,,supporters from Pandan Selangor......

..supporters from Bukit Gantang.....

..album shots....latecomers saying prayers before all the speakers arrive..

...time 8pm+ ...awaiting the arrival of the VIP's....

they arrive at 9pm.....




Some of the topics mentioned.....
- throw out race politics.." Saya Anak Malaysia keturunan Tiong Hwa"...Nga.. all applauded.
- the Babi issue in Selangor ..."stop making an issue of this...as long as it has a high tech operation and enviromentlly friendly..proceed...' .......applause from all......
- MB's going into empty offices....
- Transparency...tenders..etc.
Light note...when Nga Kor Ming spoke in Mandarin the whole stadium applauded positively..where he stated that all the Malays in Perak understood Mandarin....claps.....

..the crowd listening attentively on the field....

..view from the speakers stand...a sea of white caps.....


..'Special Force' personel all the way from Kelantan.....

..it was a good night...a moment in history...possibly the starting of a new government in Malaysia...there must have been 40,000 in the crowd...i'm not sure...I heard a figure of 50,000..

this was the scene at 7pm....


..the scene at 9pm.....

..the scene at 11pm...more than half the field is filled...and the aisles are also filled..

..these are supporters not just from Perak but other states as well...can this night on 14th April 2008 be used as a gauge to determine the sentiments of the rakyat....???...
Well we'll just have to wait through the following months to find out.

kk

Special meeting to discuss Malay issues

Posted by Super Admin

Friday, 18 April 2008

(New Straits Times) - They may be sworn enemies but next week, representatives from Umno, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Pas will meet to achieve a common goal. The meeting is at the initiative of Umno supreme council member Datuk Mohamad Norza Zakaria who has been in contact with both PKR vice-president Mohamed Azmin Ali and Pas Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub over the past few days to arrange details. "This is my own idea but I think it is timely especially after the results of the 12th general election," Mohamad Norza said. He said other supreme council members did not object to the meeting. He said some of the issues to be discussed included matters relating to religion, education as well as the New Economic Policy. He added that the three parties would try to determine where exactly the Malays stood at this point in time in terms of economic well-being. "On the New Economic Policy, its ultimate goal is to make the Malays competitive. This has to be deliberated. "We need to determine where exactly the Malays are right now. A lot of the discussions going on have been superficial. "Everything has been based on political sentiments, not facts." Mohamad Norza said the ultimate goal was to set up a secretariat consisting of all the Malay parties in the Malaysian political landscape. "We would like everyone to approach these issues with a common stand and prevent these three issues from being politicised." Mohamad Norza said the initial meeting would be held on an informal basis. Meanwhile, Mohamed Az-min, when contacted by the New Straits Times, said PKR accepted the invitation as long as the principles were in line with his party's objectives. "Malay unity is very important but we don't want it to benefit only the Malay ruling elite with the ordinary Malays left out. "We believe Malay rights have to defended. "But at the same time, we also have to be fair to the other races." Mohamed Azmin said there would be no problem for PKR to attend the meeting as their DAP coalition partner accepted their desire to strengthen Malay unity. Salahuddin said Pas, too, was interested in defending the rights of Malays and other Bumiputeras.

A non racial Malaysia: Are we ready for it?

April 17, 2008

There is growing belief among some Malaysians that our country is ready for non racial politics.

It seems to me that they also believe that they represent the majority in this country.

I hate to burst the bubble, but realistically, this issue will require a debate and an honest self-examination on the rakyat’s part considering the historical and cultural framework of the country to achieve an acceptable formula.

And the majority of the Malaysian electorate must be ready to give to the proposing political party the following mandate:

1. A two-thirds majority in parliament, because any party which intends to change the constitution must have this
2. The Elimination of Article 153 which defines the Malay Rights in the Constitution, and with the two-thirds majority, it gives the proposing party local standi
3. Ban all race based political parties and enshrine it in the Constitution
4. To close all the ethnic base school as non-malays accept national schools as the sole school system

But let’s be realistic. What are we going to do if we ban all race based political parties? The elimination of race based parties would create a vacuum when there will be a need for institutions will be there to cater for each races’ needs in terms of culture, religion and education.

As a mandatory precondition to achieve the above objective, we must step forward and volunteer our time and money to create more NGOs to cater for the social needs of the individual races. This model has proven somewhat successful in the United States where various Asian, Black or Latino NGOs have taken steps to address issues local to their own communities.

And let’s not start about how we need to first improve the quality of our education system.

A quick think of the situation will tell us that all this will take a lot of hard work, painful sacrifices and therefore take time to implement.

Do not get me wrong. I am all for a non racial Malaysia. And this must be the long-term target for the nation.

But we must admit that It is not possible to implement a non racial Malaysian society without equalizing the economic and social welfare of all the races in Malaysia first.

And now, to add to our woes, we are faced with the negative impact of a slowing global economy, rising prices of commodities and declining standard of living for Malaysians in general, the economic welfare of the rakyat becomes more important than the ideal of a non racial Malaysia.

It is difficult to narrow the gap in the well being of different races if the economy does not generate new wealth to be fairly distributed among the races.

So these are the medium term targets that we need to achieve:

1. New wealth in the economy that is fairly distributed among the races,
2. a world class education system that is both colour blind and economically efficient, and
3. new NGOs as institutions that will fill the vacuum when race based political parties are gone.

Only when Malaysia is in such a position we can truly consider to further dismantle the racial shackles that bind us.

But for the mean time, let us concentrate on pressing matters.

By Jazlan · Filed Under Feature, Straight Up

Move to streamline conversions

PUTRAJAYA: The Islamic Development Department (Jakim) will hold a syariah and syarak convention on April 26 to discuss all aspects on conversions to Islam.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this was part of the efforts towards drawing up legislation covering religious conversion.

He said he and senator Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, also a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, had recently discussed the proposals by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that converts inform their spouses or families when they embraced Islam.

"We are also getting feedback and views from non-governmental organisations, Muslim associations, Chinese-Muslim associations and others."

Muslim scholars, lawyers and academicians are among the participants of the syariah and syarak convention.
"Everything relating to this matter must be analysed before procedures or regulations are introduced to avoid misunderstanding and potential conflicts.

"While we try to understand the needs of the converts, we also have to understand their families' needs, too, " he said.

2008/04/18

OPINION: The elephant in the Pakatan Rakyat room

By : ZUBAIDAH ABU BAKAR

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Rita Sim of the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research, an MCA think-tank, believes that political tension will be a constant in the newly-formed Pakatan Rakyat

Parti Islam SeMalaysia’s aim of setting up an Islamic theocracy will remain a thorny issue within Pakatan Rakyat and the crucial factor that may shorten the opposition coalition’s lifespan, writes ZUBAIDAH ABU BAKAR

PAKATAN Rakyat, assembled as an afterthought following the opposition's triumph in the March general election, is ambitious. The yet-to-be-formalised coalition is already thinking it is the main player in Malaysian politics.

Pakatan Rakyat's birth was encouraged after its three component parties collectively won 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats and jointly took control of the state assemblies of Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

For the first time in 40 years, the opposition had denied Barisan Nasional a two-thirds parliamentary majority. DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang aptly described the coalition's birth as "the next logical step after the March 8 political tsunami in order to bring about the changes that the people want".

"This is a response to the clear and unmistakable message from the people," he said, "that they want change, justice, freedom and fairness."
Some political analysts view the forging of a loose electoral pact among the three parties as a personal triumph for opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, whose negotiation skills helped bring the rival groups together on the basis of principles held in common by the three parties, such as freedom, justice and democracy.

Pakatan Rakyat's components are hardly strangers to each other. They are the same players who teamed up to form "Barisan Alternatif" to contest the 1999 general election as an electoral pact.

The loose pact did not hold. It was paralysed by internal bickering, particularly between Islamist Pas and the secular and socialist Democratic Action Party over the former's insistence to set up an Islamic state. DAP left the coalition in 2001.

Today, Pas, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP, with their dissimilar aims and ambitions and diverging policies, are offering Pakatan Rakyat as a credible alternative to BN's coalition of 14 political parties.

Their leaders have once again agreed to put aside their differences. Their struggle now is for common principles like human rights, justice, corruption-free government and democracy.

But doubts remain over Pakatan Rakyat's prospects for long-term survival, especially when there are voices expressing personal opinions contradictory to those mutually agreed at the top level.

Fearing the acrimony among its members will sink Pakatan Rakyat before it's even able to disclose its policies to the people, coalition leaders directed members to desist from expressing such views publicly.

"Pakatan Rakyat is not the forum nor the place for any group or individual to champion personal ideologies or those of its component parties," the grouping said in a statement signed by PKR leaders Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail and Anwar, Lim and Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

The statement went on to emphasise Pakatan Rakyat's commitment to creating a prosperous society irrespective of ethnicity, religion and culture in upholding human rights.

By disallowing unwarranted and unsolicited comments, the group's leaders hope their members will remain steadfast in achieving a shared vision and targets.

It seems that the Islamic state and Pakatan Rakyat have become mutually exclusive; an "irreconcilable difference". To DAP and some sections of PKR, it is simply a mismatch.

It would also seem an exercise in futility to believe that DAP will eventually accept an Islamic state, as Pas' spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat hopes.

"I have no qualms admitting and predicting that if Pas and DAP insist on fighting over this issue, the Pakatan Rakyat is definitely going to be short-lived," said Pas think-tank head Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad.

While he insists that setting up an Islamic state shall remain Pas' abiding vision and political aspiration, it is not about to realise it now.

"Pas' manifesto calls for 'a fair, clean and trustworthy government towards a nation of care and opportunity'," Dzulkifli says. "We should make it categorically clear that an Islamic state is not on the agenda of Pakatan Rakyat."

Rita Sim of the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research, think-tank of MCA, said she could see continuous tension brewing not only within Pakatan Rakyat but also within Pas.

"The progressive leaders in Pas may be more flexible, but the question is whether the conservatives in the party will step in."

Sim said Pas must also accept that many people voted for the party because they wanted an Islamic state, and there were also those, including non-Muslims, who voted for them because of the promises in the party's welfare-state manifesto.

Prof Mohammed Mustaffa Ishak of Universiti Utara Malaysia does not think the Islamist and secular stands of the three component parties will blend well. Indeed, they may be untenable.

"The Islamic state issue is a fundamental issue that Pas, DAP and PKR will have a hard time resolving," he said.

"It looks like there is no way for compromise. The moment DAP succumbs to Pas, the Chinese will not forgive DAP for allowing Pas to dominate. It is not going to be easy for Pas members to embrace the leadership's decision to be silent about its ultimate goal of an Islamic state."

Opinions are forming among senior Pas leaders that DAP, if it is truly committed to Pakatan Rakyat, should not insist on Pas renouncing the Islamic state as a prerequisite to the formation of the coalition.

They said such an insistence would be as vain as asking DAP to renounce the "Malaysian Malaysia" idea -- which would be as implausible.

What Pakatan Rakyat urgently needs is the basic ground rules and guiding principles to forge the coalition, and a working mechanism to check and operationalise the relationship.

Pas insiders also say the statement by party vice-president Datuk Husam Musa -- that Pas would not pursue its Islamic state agenda through Pakatan Rakyat -- would be strongly criticised at the party's muktamar or convention in August.

Mohammed Mustaffa also observed that the Pakatan Rakyat's problems stem not just from the differences between Pas and DAP but with PKR as well, and Anwar may find difficulty facilitating a cordial relationship among coalition members.

If Pakatan Rakyat continues in disarray, its candidates may find themselves practically unelectable in the 13th general election.