The UMNO Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr. Asyrah Waijdi Dusuki is up to great mischief yesterday when he made the false and insidious allegations that the DAP is anti-Islam and is seeking to strike fear among Malaysians, especially non-Muslims, by portraying a Bill to enhance the Shariah courts to be the pathway to hudud implementation.

Let me ask Asyrah a direct question: Is he seriously suggesting that those who oppose PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill motion to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 are anti-Islam?

In that case, I want to further ask Asyrah whether he is accusing the PBB President, Datuk Abang Johari Openg, and the four PBB Muslim Ministers, Nancy Shukri, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department; Datuk Fadillah Yusuf, Minister for Works; Datuk Wan Junaidi, Minister for Natural Resources and Environment; and Rohani Abdul Rahman, Minister for Women, Family and Community Development as anti-Islam as the Sarawak Chief Minister had last month reaffirmed the directive of his predecessor, the late Adenan Satem, to all the Sarawak BN Federal Ministers and the 25 Sarawak Barisan Nasional MPs to reject Hadi’s private member’s bill motion?

Is Asyrah further accusing the former Sarawak Chief Minister, Adenan Satem for being anti-Islam for having issued such a directive to all the 25 Sarawak BN MPs last November?

Or will Asyrah concede that both Muslims and non-Muslims can oppose Hadi’s private member’s bill motion without in any way being anti-Islam?

I await Asyrah’s answer.

Asyrah has clearly misunderstood my call in Parliament in the past two days directed at the MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the other 15 non-UMNO Ministers to take a clear-cut stand and force the issue at the Cabinet today as firstly, there is no Cabinet and Barisan Nasional consensus that Hadi’s private member’s bill motion be given government priority in the present meeting of Parliament; and secondly, that the Federal Government takes over Hadi’s bill after the passage of Hadi’s private member’s bill motion.

In the past two days in Parliament, I did not discuss the merits or demerits of Hadi’s private member’s bill but the different and very important question whether the Barisan Nasional coalition has totally changed its character – from a coalition of equals which observes the consensus principle to one practicing “UMNO hegemony” where “what UMNO wants, UMNO gets” in the Barisan Nasional coalition and the other 12 non-UMNO BN parties do not matter at all!

In fact, the admission by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman yesterday that she did not know whether Hadi’s private member’s bill motion would be given priority, as she had yet to receive instructions on the matter from the Prime Minister, indicates that the Barisan Nasional has degenerated from a coalition of equals where the consensus principle for all the 13 BN parties applies to one where the diktat of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, rules the BN roost!

This is something the first five Prime Ministers have never done or achieved – whether Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir or Tun Abdullah.

This is why the 14th General Election has become the important occasion for all patriotic Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or even politics to unite to “Save Malaysia” from kleptocracy in the great battle between democracy vs kleptocracy.