Dr M accused of going back and forth on Jakim

PETALING JAYA: An ex-MP has accused former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad of being inconsistent in his statements regarding Jakim, the federal department for Islamic development.

Tawfik Ismail, who was the MP for Sungai Benut between 1986 and 1990, said Mahathir’s recent defence of his administration’s establishment of Jakim was at odds with a statement he made in November 2005 on the right of Malaysians to dismantle the department if they wanted to.

At a press conference yesterday, Mahathir rejected an accusation by his one-time rival in Umno, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, that Jakim was established as a tool for Umno to neutralise PAS’ influence on Muslims. He said it was instead aimed at harmonising the government administration with Islamic teachings.

Tawfik told FMT: “Mahathir’s ambivalence on Jakim raises questions on his attempt to undermine the authority of the Malay rulers over religion.”

He also said the former prime minister had a knack for setting up organisations that “parallel” others, and that Jakim was one of these.

“Setting up parallel organisations is his tradecraft in politics, like setting up Persatuan Anak Jawa Johor to split Johor Malays and establishing and being patron of Perkasa as a counter to Malay moderates.”

Tawfik said Umno Baru and Mahathir’s new party, PPBM, were other examples of parallel organisations, and accused the former prime minister of creating both in order to split the Malays.

Jakim was formally established in 1997 as a unit of the Prime Minister’s Department. Among its responsibilities is to determine the halal validity of products from the consumer food sector.

The department has come under intense criticism in recent years. Some critics have questioned its huge budget.

Tengku Razaleigh’s recent criticism came in a wide-ranging interview with FMT. He said Jakim was an unconstitutional body.

In his response yesterday, Mahathir refused to comment on the department’s relevance, but said a Pakatan Harapan government could re-evaluate the need for it.

“If we win, we will see if it is still needed,” he said. “Nothing is permanent.”

Mahathir’s 2015 statement was made in the wake of a call by Tawfik for the dissolution of Jakim. The former MP had said there were existing institutions that could carry out its functions. He also said the government should not interfere in the lives of Muslims and alleged that such interference had begun only during Mahathir’s term in power.

In his response, Mahathir said: “Anybody who’s a little bit off his mind would agree with Tawfik.” -FMT