DAP MP challenges MCA, MIC on PAS gambling goal

 Kampar MP Chong Zhemin says the two parties must ‘come clean’ on whether they support PAS’s position, given the BN-PN electoral pact.

Chong Zhemin (left) said MCA president Wee Ka Siong (centre) and MIC president SA Vigneswaran must state clearly whether their parties support PAS’s declared objective of using federal power to end gambling nationwide.

PETALING JAYA:

DAP’s Chong Zhemin has called on MCA and MIC to “come clean” on whether they support PAS’s declared objective of using federal power to end gambling nationwide, saying the issue goes beyond gambling and concerns protecting the interests of non-Muslim Malaysians.

This comes after PAS today urged Muslim voters to put the party in federal power to end gambling, following the Federal Court’s rejection of the Kedah government’s bid to overturn a ruling that barred it from refusing to renew licences for pool betting and lottery operators.

The Kampar MP argued that, given the electoral pact between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN), “a vote for BN is now a vote to put PAS in Putrajaya and ban gambling”.

“PAS cannot form the federal government on its own. The only realistic route for PAS to obtain federal power is through a BN-PN electoral pact and a government formed with Umno, MCA and MIC.

“Therefore, MCA president Wee Ka Siong and MIC president SA Vigneswaran must state clearly whether their parties support PAS’s declared objective of using federal power to end gambling nationwide,” he said in a statement today.

Chong said while PAS tells Muslims to help it reach Putrajaya in order to abolish gambling, MCA and MIC cannot ask Chinese and Indian voters to support BN “while pretending that a vote for BN has nothing to do with PAS”.

He said Putrajaya must also protect the constitutional freedom of non-Muslims, arguing that while the religious prohibition on gambling for Muslims must be respected, PAS cannot demand that such a prohibition be imposed through federal law on every Malaysian, regardless of religion.

“A nationwide prohibition would directly affect the freedom of non-Muslims to participate in activities that are currently lawful and regulated under federal law.

“It would raise a much larger question about whether PAS intends to use federal power to progressively impose its religious and moral positions on citizens who do not profess Islam,” he said.

Following the Federal Court’s decision yesterday, the PAS ulama council said the “burden and responsibility” of eradicating gambling now fell entirely on the shoulders of voters.

“On this matter, voting is no longer merely a democratic right but a requirement of ‘amar makruf nahi mungkar’ (upholding what is right and opposing what is wrong),” said the council’s information chief, Nor Hamzah. - FMT