> Hudud Law not in Pakatan Policy

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang today took to task PAS vice-president Husam Musa for reiterating PAS' plan to implement Islamic hudud laws if the party succeeded in taking over the federal government following a general election.

Lim said Husam must explain his statement to address the unease it would create among the non-Muslims in Kuala Terengganu, where a by-election is slated for next month.

"Hukum hudud (hudud laws) is not Pakatan Rakyat policy and it is for Husam to clarify what he actually said," said Lim in a statement.

He further noted that DAP's stand - with the party being a member of the Pakatan alliance together with PAS and PKR - on Malaysia being a secular nation based on the social contract formulated in 1957 remained "consistent and unchanged".

"If unclarified, Husam's statement would create unease, anxiety and opposition not only among the 11 percenty of the Chinese voters in the critical Kuala Terengganu by-election on Jan 17 but also among both Malay and non-Malay voters whether in Terengganu or the rest of Malaysia," he said.

During a forum-cum-debate on Saturday in Kota Baru that saw Husam being pitted against Umno Youth chief-hopeful Khairy Jamaluddin, the latter challenged Husam to state PAS' plans were it to take over the federal government.

"I give the guarantee that we will carry it (hudud) out," Husam was reported as saying in reply.

Responsibility of all 

Husam also reportedly said it was the responsibility of all Muslims - not only PAS - to implement hudud.

Directing the question back to Khairy, Husam asked: "Why must (implementation of) hudud laws be the agenda of PAS when all (Muslims) must be responsible for them?"

Also present at the debate was International Islamic University Malaysia law professor Abdul Aziz Bari, who said it was the responsibility of the federal government to implement hudud laws if the state governments did not want to implement them.

"The criminal laws come under the jurisdiction of the federal government and not under that of the state governments," he said.

Meanwhile DAP chairperson Karpal Singh said that Husam has committed a tactical blunder by playing into the hands of Barisan Nasional with the hudud law statement ahead of the Kuala Terengganu by-election.

Falling into BN trap

"In its desperation to win, BN will resort to any measure to deny a Pakatan Rakyat victory in Kuala Terengganu. Husam has made an error by falling into BN trap," said Karpal.

Taking a swipe at PAS for embarking on its own political expediency at the expenses of Pakatan unity, Karpal insisted that it was high time PAS discarded its myopic political considerations and appreciate larger political landscape.

"It's necessary for the continued existence of the Pakatan coalition and cooperation," he noted.

"I wonder whether Husam got the blessing from PAS top leadership," he said. 

DAP and PAS have been in loggerheads over their respective stand on Islam - on both the formation of Islamic state and on hudud.

They however formed an alliance in the last general election along with PKR to obtain the best ever results for the opposition - Malaysiakini.

Hudud Law is not allowed by the Federal Constitution and as such it cannot be implemented without due process. It is not even in Pakatan's policy. Hudud laws may not be necessarily  bad for certain offences but it must be allowed for by Law of the country and by ALL people in the country. Stop harping on such controversial issues when there are more important matters to be attended to by Pakatan - My Journal.