After Umno, will MCA and Gerakan vote for hudud too? asks Kit Siang

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — MCA and Gerakan are half a step away from joining Umno in supporting PAS’ hudud bid, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang claimed today, pointing out the two Chinese-centric parties have not moved to stop their Barisan Nasional (BN) partner from backing the controversial Islamic penal code.

Eventually, Lim said, MCA and Gerakan would have no choice but to allow their state elected representatives vote in support of hudud should there be any attempt to introduce the criminal justice system in states outside of Kelantan.

“When MCA and Gerakan open the breach to agree to Umno Kelantan state assemblymen supporting PAS on hudud implementation in Kelantan, MCA and Gerakan would have set the precedent to allow Umno state assemblymen in other states to agree to hudud law and implementation,” he said in a statement here.

“We are then only half a step to MCA and Gerakan state assembly representatives themselves voting in support of hudud law and implementation in the various state assemblies,” the DAP adviser added.

The DAP leader added that MCA and Gerakan’s lack of opposition towards Umno’s pro-hudud stace is a reflection of their inevitable acceptance of hudud should their very own members choose to adopt the Islamic penal code.

At MCA’s 66^th anniversary yesterday, party president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai sidestepped Umno’s expressed support for hudud in Kelantan, and instead blamed DAP for not exerting enough pressure to stop PAS from pushing for the law.

Liow said Umno’s open backing for hudud does not matter, claiming the issue would not arise if PAS was blocked from its plan to table amendments to the state’s Shariah Criminal Code Enactment II 1993 this Wednesday.

“We have to see, who brought up this issue? This not about Umno or any other parties who support the effort,” Liow told reporters after the event.

“Importantly, from whom did this suggestion came from? The suggestion came from PAS and if PAS did not bring this issue to the state assembly, then this issue will not earn any support.”

Umno’s Kelantan chapter has remained firm in its backing of the PAS-led government’s push to implement hudud in the state, with state Umno chief Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed pointing out last year that his party had already made its position clear in 1993 when the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment II was being tabled in the state assembly.

But Lim insisted today that should the BN parties accept hudud, they would be deviating from the coalition’s founding principles and the Federal Constitution.

Unlike MCA, Gerakan or Umno, he said, the DAP has remained steadfast and consistent in its position that hudud is not part of Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) common policy framework or the Federal Constitution.

The Kelantan state government reportedly plans to table amendments to the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment II 1993 at the state legislative assembly this Wednesday..

Details of the proposed amendments, however, have not been made public nor did the PAS-led state administration share copies of the bill with their PR partners until this week.

The PR presidential council said it was briefed by the Kelantan state executive councillors on the proposed amendments to the hudud bill.