Barisan risks being booted out in GE14 over Allah issue, warn coalition members

The Court of Appeal’s ruling that the Catholic weekly Herald cannot use the word Allah in its Bahasa Malaysia section could seriously dent the Barisan Nasional's (BN) chances of retaining power in the next general election, warned its component partners.

Already suffering from a backlash from non-Malay voters since the 2008 general election that saw BN losing their two-thirds majority in the 222-seat parliament over racial and religious issues, the component parties cautioned that this court decision might just tip the scales against BN at the next polls.

Gerakan president Datuk Chang Ko Youn said Putrajaya has to confront the issue and make a decisive stand soon as failure to do so will have political repercussions on the coalition.

“It is not a legal issue, it is a political one," he said, adding that the matter should have been settled decisively years ago.

He appealed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to call for a BN meeting and get religious experts to brief the supreme council so that a political decision can be made on how to resolve the matter quickly.

“If Putrajaya just sits on this, it might distance the Christian community from BN. They might feel their rights have been trampled on," he said.

MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said although Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country, the feelings of non-Muslims have to be taken into consideration as well.

“We must find a way to solve this problem. If BN does not respect other religions and feels this is nothing, then they will have to face the music come the next general election.”

There are 2.8 million Christians in Malaysia, most of whom are in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak, which have generally been regarded as a "fixed deposit" for the ruling coalition.

BN took 47 of the 56 federal seats in Sabah and Sarawak, contributing one-third of the 133 federal seats it won in GE13.

MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu said BN needs to take an unequivocal stand that inclusiveness and the 10-point agreement of April 2011 is the way forward and that national reconciliation is paramount.

The agreement as made by the Federal Cabinet prior to the Sarawak state elections in 2011, allowed the printing, import and distribution of the Malay language bible Al-Kitab that contains the word Allah.

“BN, as an inclusive political coalition, must address the issue and reach a rational consensus for the sake of national interest,” he said.

He said the Christian community in Sabah and Sarawak had been using the word Allah as part of their worship for generations and the Court decision is tantamount to criminalising a long accepted practice.

"I fail to comprehend the rationale of the ban. Have we experienced lack of security and public disorder all these while when the word was used by non-Muslim? Or are we acting in accordance with the insecurity of some overzealous characters?"

Much to the chagrin of the coalition members, Najib has remained silent on the matter.

“He can’t say anything, whatever he says is bound to offend one side or the other, be it Muslims or Christians. For him, silence is golden,” noted Institute of Southeast Asian Studies visiting fellow Dr James Chin, adding, however, Najib's position as prime minister is fairly secure for at least another term.

On Monday, the Court of Appeal ruled that the word Allah was not an integral part of the Christian faith and practice and that such usage if allowed, will inevitably cause confusion within the community.

While the Catholic church will appeal against the decision, BN leaders in Sabah and Sarawak are scrambling to assess the damage caused by the court's decision.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had said the ban on the use of the word Allah only applies to the Catholic weekly, Herald, and not other Christian publications or the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia bible which is widely used in Sabah and Sarawak.

However, Wan Junaidi’s statement has been criticised by constitutional law expert Dr Abdul Aziz Bari, who pointed out that to minimise or avoid the effects of the decision, the government would have to do it through legislation, namely to table a bill in parliament.