KUALA LUMPUR - A new bipartisan coalition comprising MPs from both sides of the political divide could arise if Umno decides to back PAS’s hudud agenda, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders said today.
PR leaders believe that Umno’s support of PAS’s plans to enforce hudud would result in Barisan Nasional’s (BN) breakup and a realignment of political forces from both PR and BN.
“There will be a realignment of political forces... (Lim) Kit Siang’s suggestion is an immediate and natural aftermath of whatever decision (Prime Minister Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) makes,” PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli said at a news conference here.
Yesterday, Lim suggested the formation of a new government by a “Save Malaysia” coalition to comprise lawmakers from both sides of the political divide.
Stressing that the suggestion was his personal view, the veteran DAP politician noted that both PR and BN appear to be torn in their support for hudud, the Islamic penal code that PAS intends to implement in Kelantan.
“If this happens, BN itself will break especially in Sabah and Sarawak. Smaller parties would have to realign themselves,” Rafizi added.
But he refused to state whether Najib and Umno’s support for hudud would also result in PR’s own breakup.
“Currently we are all speculating. Many people forget the private members’ bills will not see its day in Parliament unless Najib says yes.
“Any attempt by Najib to play with hudud will not just affect Pakatan but BN,” Rafizi said, adding he was confident the Umno president would not agree to PAS’s plans.
DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke agreed with his PKR colleague, saying the issue of forming a new coalition would depend on Najib’s stand on the matter.
“If Najib agrees to support PAS all other BN component parties must make their view known,” the Seremban MP told reporters.
But PAS MP Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said that the breakup of either PR or BN over hudud was unlikely, and that PAS is still committed to PR.
“That is far-fetched, that scenario. We must let cooler heads prevail,” he told Malay Mail Online when met outside Parliament.
PAS-ruled Kelantan passed key amendments to its Shariah Criminal Code II 1993 last Thursday in a move to enable the eventual implementation of hudud in the Malay-majority east coast state.
All 12 Umno state lawmakers voted for the amendments but the ruling party’s national leadership has yet to declare if the same support would be given to PAS’s hudud ambition at the federal level.
Next week, all BN component parties including Umno are expected to issue a joint statement to declare its position on the controversial issue.
The statement is expected to precede PAS’s attempt to table a private members’ Bill in the ongoing Parliament session that will enable Kelantan to carry out punishments under hudud. Among others, the Islamic criminal justice system prescribes amputation as punishment for crimes like stealing.
PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang earlier last week served notice to Parliament on the proposed Bill but BN’s law minister Datuk Nancy Shukri said it may not make it into the order paper for the current session as there are many others on the schedule.
PAS only has 21 MPs in the lower House and would need to rely on Muslim MPs from other parties in order to get a simple majority of 112 votes to get the Bill passed.
Tonight, DAP’s national central executive committee (CEC) will hold a meeting to discuss its position in PR following PAS’s hudud manoeuvre in Kelantan. - Malay Mail
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