However, in the case of the Kelantan hudud enactment, it is more than just a legal matter but rather as a political ploy meant to eliminate the progressives in PAS and to break Pakatan Rakyat in the process. Worse than that, albeit unintentionally, the bickering and anger arising from the fiery emotional arguments could tear the nation apart. The end game for those who designed the plot is to draw the battle lines along a “Muslims versus non-Muslims” conflict. We are in an extraordinary time that requires extra careful understanding of the situation. We must see through the grand design and defeat the plot. Put plainly, the current hudud rush is being designed by Umno and the pro-Umno leaders in PAS to be a religious conflict. To thwart this we must unite the most number of Muslims and non-Muslims on commonly acceptable positions. 

Why the rush? The hudud move essentially began with a challenge by Md Alwi Che Ahmad, Umno assemblyman for Kok Lanas (who “cried joyfully” at the tabling of the hudud enactment in Kelantan recently), in the state assembly in March 2014 that the hudud enactment should be implemented.   Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir told Parliament on March 27, 2014, that Umno would support a private member’s bill if it is brought to the Federal Parliament. After rounds of “joint technical committee” meetings between the Federal Government and the Kelantan State Government, the latter announced in a hush-hush manner that a bill would be tabled in the state assembly on December 29, 2014, but the Great Flood of Kelantan prevented it from happening. The passing of the hudud enactment on March 19, 2015, would not end there. It will be more intense in the months to come, with PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill as the PAS election heats up. The hudud plot serves the interests of two groups. First, the pro-Umno leaders in PAS would be able to enhance their Islamic credentials vis-à-vis the pro-Pakatan group in the upcoming party election in June 2015. It is important to note that PAS divisional meetings that would choose the delegates to the June Muktamar are being held between March 1, 2015, and April 24, 2015. The media debate and attention on hudud serve the pro-Umno group well so that they could tell the party grassroots that it is much better to work with an “Islamic” Umno than an “infidel” DAP. As the pro-Umno leaders are not confident of winning at the Muktamar, breaking up Pakatan before the June Muktamar would mean their nemesis the pro-Pakatan leaders within PAS would lose their raison d’etre even before June. Second, Umno is to gain the most from the collapse of Pakatan Rakyat. From what I gathered, Umno strategists believe that the jailing of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat’s destruction would mean Umno would be in an unassailable position without an alternative to replace the grand old party. Such an advantageous position is necessary with the introduction of the unpopular GST on April 1, 2015, exposes on Najib-linked scandals, heightening of Umno’s internal battle, and declining economic fortune.   If one follows the thinking of the pro-Umno group in PAS and also the hardliners in Umno, the anti-democracy streak is unmistakably clear. To this group, a “PAS-Umno” alliance means there is no need for real elections anymore. To them, this nation belongs to the Malays/Muslims; democracy is inconvenient and troublesome. The question for all Malaysians to ponder is whether we still treat PAS as a single coherent entity or to acknowledge that the pro-Umno group is plotting to push the nation to the brink and to eliminate elections altogether. Like the Umno party election, the PAS election is affecting national politics in a way previously not seen and yet to be understood. It deserves as much national attention as the Umno party election. All Malaysians need to take these into consideration when reacting to such extraordinary scenarios. This is not a religious doctrinal issue; it is political expediency.

* Liew Chin Tong is DAP Director of Political Education and MP for Kluang.

** This is the personal view of the individual or organisation and does not necessarily represent the opinion of Malay Mail Online.