KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — Accusing the MCA of deception in its resistance towards hudud, DAP's Lim Kit Siang today challenged the party to contest Umno's support for the Islamic penal code when the Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership convenes tomorrow.

Claiming that MCA leaders' overt resistance towards hudud was made apparent only to the Chinese community, Lim told the rival party to be openly consistent about its position over the controversial law.

The DAP national advisor highlighted that MCA secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan's professed rejection of the technical committee — proposed by Putrajaya — to study hudud gained coverage only in Chinese vernacular newspapers.

He then noted a lack of coverage by MCA-owned newspaper The Star for Ong's remarks as well as MCA Wanita head Datuk Heng Seai Kie's call for the censure of two Umno ministers who openly supported the Islamic penal code.

“This is a most irresponsible, unprincipled, opportunistic and cowardly politicking, saying one thing for the consumption of the Chinese in Malaysia while giving a totally opposite impression to Umno leaders and members,” Lim said in a statement today.

Lim, who is also Gelang Patah MP, pointed out that MCA continues to ignore Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's declaration that Putrajaya did not reject hudud, along with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's announcement of the hudud committee.

Both actions were in clear violation of the BN's principle of consensus rule—in which disagreement by any of the 13 component parties would veto policy decision—that MCA is yet to protest, Lim noted.

Najib is the chairman of BN and Muhyiddin, his deputy.

Lim then repeated his challenge to MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai to reject the three Cabinet seats and five deputy ministers' posts offered to the party following its decision to rejoin the administration to demonstrate its commitment to fighting hudud.

MCA has jumped on the plan by PAS — DAP's ally in the Pakatan Rakyat pact — to again try and enforce hudud in Kelantan and made it the central theme of its offensive against the two parties.

It claimed that resisting a “constitutional crisis” purportedly stemmed from the hudud bid was the reason why it was not contesting the May 25 Bukit Gelugor by-election, despite having held the seat up until losing it to late DAP leader Karpal Singh in 2004.

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.

PAS is now looking for parliamentary approval to implement hudud, but on Sunday announced that it is postponing this to allow the bi-partisan technical committee to study the issue.

In all previous attempts, PAS had been frustrated by 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.

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.