KUCHING, Sept 6 — Mohamad Sabu, chief of Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) promised non-Muslim Malaysians today that his Islamist party will not back conservative PAS’ push to enforce Shariah criminal law in Kelantan without the explicit approval of its new political allies DAP and PKR.

The country’s newest party, which touts itself as progressive Islamist, has previously said it is supportive of the controversial religious criminal code but added that hudud was not an immediate priority in its political battle to oust the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition from power in elections.

“We need to consult our partners first and if, for example, Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen, does not agree, then we will not support the Bill,” Mohamad told a news conference here during the launch of the Sarawak chapter of Amanah, a PAS splinter party.

Sarawak, Malaysia’s biggest state, is predominantly Christian, unlike the rest of the country where Muslims make up the majority demographic.

PAS has repeatedly said it is seeking Parliament’s approval to enforce its amended Shariah Criminal Code in Kelantan, and is said to have the support of Umno, BN’s anchor party in peninsular Malaysia.

Chong, who is also Bandar Kuching MP, was among several state DAP leaders invited to Amanah’s launch.

Mohamad stressed that hudud is not a priority for Amanah at the moment.

“If everybody agrees to the hudud law, we still need to consult our coalition partners and look whether there are provisions in the Federal Constitution that allow us to implement the hudud law,” he said.

He said he understands the feelings of Sarawakians, especially the Christians who make up about 45 per cent of the state’s population, on hudud.

Chong explained his party had cut off ties with PAS in Sarawak because the state DAP strongly opposed the implementation of hudud in the country.

“Sarawak DAP was the first party that made the decision to sever with PAS because we did not agree with them on the hudud law,” he said.

He said the direction that PAS was going had made it impossible for the DAP to work with the conservative Islamist party, adding that a religious criminal code violated their Pakatan Rakyat common policy framework that all three political parties had endorsed back then.

“The framework makes no mention of hudud, but yet PAS pushed for its implementation. It was even prepared to work with Umno for support,” Chong, who is also Kota Sentosa state lawmaker, said.

The lawyer insisted that hudud law cannot be rolled out because Malaysia is a multi-racial and secular state.

He voiced optimism for a new federal opposition collaboration with Amanah as the country’s new Islamist party.

“When Sarawak chapter chairman Fidzuan Zaidi called me, I was very excited. And we will go about to help Parti Amanah and to make it a success in Sarawak,” Chong said.

Hudud was among the major causes that led to a falling-out between DAP and PAS. The seven-year-old PR alliance, cobbled together following the opposition’s watershed wins in Election 2008, formally ended in June this year.