The MCA stand, as declared by MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai in Parliament lobby yesterday, that MCA cannot support PAS private member’s motion but would support it if the bill was moved by the government (reported by New Straits Times) is most shocking and unbelievable as it is downright unprincipled and irresponsible.
Such a declaration should reinforce general concerns whether MCA and the other Barisan Nasional parties could be trusted to firmly and uncompromisingly defend and uphold the constitutional principles of a secular democratic Malaysia with Islam as the official religion of the nation.
This is a matter of grave concern as it is speculated that the next move of the private member’s motion of the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, is for the UMNO/BN government to take over Hadi’s bill and present it to the March meeting of Parliament as a government bill.
Has MCA and the other Barisan Nasional parties agreed and authorised UMNO to take over Hadi’s private member’s motion and present Hadi’s private member’s bill as a government bill of the Barisan Nasional government?
As far as I know, the Cabinet had not met to give UMNO Ministers the authority to take over Hadi’s private member’s bill, or is the so-called Barisan Nasional consensus have ong ceased to exist, and Barisan Nasional exist only in name as UMNO can unilaterally and arbitrarily decide on behalf of all the other 13 BN component parties even on a fundamental question affecting the constitutional rights of all Malaysians?
Barisan Nasional leader should understand that the issue is not who is presenting the bill or motion, whether PAS or UMNO, but whether the constitutional principles and basis in the Merdeka Constitution 1957 and Malaysia Agreeemnt 1963 establishing multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural Malaysia are upheld or undermined.
Hadi’s statement that his private member’s bill motion is no concern of the non-Muslims is both misguided and unfortunate, and one only needs to refer to his speech in the Terengganu State Assembly in July 2002 that Islamic laws will eventually cover non-Muslims.
He made it very clear that the hudud and qisas laws spelt out by PAS in the Terengganu Syariah Criminal Offences (Hudud and Qisas) Enactment will be imposed even on non-Muslism in the state “when every citizen understands them”.
Speaking at the winding-up of the two-day debate in the Terengganu State Assembly on the Enactment, he said:
“For now, it will apply to only Muslims but when the time comes, the
hudud and qisas laws will be extended to all non-Muslims.”
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