KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — A Kelantan allowed to be awash with illicit drugs while political parties bicker over the implementation of hudud reveals their true motives and priorities, a former Cabinet minister noted in disapproval today.

Picking on a news report by national news agency Bernama that said RM8.8 million worth of illegal narcotics was seized in the East Coast state from January to May, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim contrasted the indifference over the apparent drug menace with the zeal rivals PAS and Umno have shown for the Islamic penal code.

“In 5 months police seized 9m worth of drugs; so probably Kelantan infested with serious drugs. Have their leaders said anything? None,” he posted on Twitter today.

“Will PAS and Umno set up joint committee to curb drugs? Unlikely because they don’t really care about Malays.

“They are more interested in obtaining brownie points for themselves; thinking they would be rewarded for their hypocrisy,” he added.

The de facto law minister during the Abdullah administration has been one of the most outspoken critics of momentum between PAS and Umno to implement hudud in Kelantan.

On Friday, he warned that the rivals were not simply baiting each other over the controversial Islamic law, and that Umno was in danger of conceding support for fear of losing support of the Malay heartland on which it now depends for political survival.

“I do not agree. They are neither smart nor savvy. They are not playing games — they are just too weak and afraid to explain to Muslim voters in this country that the hudud plan will only cause them hardship. They no longer have the convictions of former leaders, who had similarly been threatened by PAS since 1950’s over the issue,” Zaid, a former Umno man, said on Friday.

PAS is also viewed as using the hudud issue as an attempt to reassert itself within the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact that has seen secular DAP — who is vehemently opposed to the Islamist party’s goals of an Islamic state — grow in prominence.

In 1993, the PAS state government passed the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment II, allowing it to impose the strict Islamic penal code in the state, but the laws have not been implemented yet.

PAS is now looking for parliamentary approval to implement hudud. It plans to put forward two private members’ bills in parliament. One seeks approval for punishments including whipping, stoning and amputation while the other seeks to empower Shariah courts to mete out the sentences.

In all previous attempts, PAS had been frustrated by Barisan Nasional (BN) tactics to prevent any vote by employing a “talking out” tactic where BN MPs have been allowed to speak for an extended period of time to prevent such private members’ bills from even being debated.

The filibuster-style tactic was frequently used when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was still prime minister.

This was believed to be largely due to Dr Mahathir seeking to avoid putting Umno MPs in a difficult position of deciding whether to back or reject the Shariah enactment.

However, Umno leaders have now said they have no objections to the implementation of hudud and have constantly challenged PAS to try to introduce the law.

Recently, Putrajaya also announced the formation of a special committee to study how to enact hudud.

Legal experts insist that hudud cannot be implemented in Malaysia as it would be unconstitutional. They also pointed to complexities in enforcing a law in which non-Muslims could not be compelled to appear.