Amid hudud row, Sabah DAP says time for ‘Pakatan Rakyat Baharu’

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — After Lim Kit Siang’s proposed bipartisan “Save Malaysia” pact, the Sabah chapter of DAP is now suggesting the formation of a renewed Pakatan Rakyat (PR) dubbed “Pakatan Rakyat Baharu” instead.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament today, Sabah DAP chairman Jimmy Wong said the new pact will focus on upholding the Federal Constitution and will not include PAS, whose hudud plan runs counter to the country’s supreme law.

“Like what Lim Kit Siang is saying in his ‘Save Malaysia’ coalition, we want to propose a new coalition in Sabah, called Pakatan Rakyat Baharu.

“It is called PRB because it is a new thing… this is the idea we want to propose for Sabah,” Wong told reporters.

The Kota Kinabalu MP added that Sabah DAP intends to float its idea to its pact partner PKR before including other “like-minded parties” in the proposal.

“We feel that this is necessary because of the impasse in PAS and their insistence on hudud,” Wong explained.

“PAS will not be a part of this new coalition,” he added.

Last Sunday, several days after the PAS-led Kelantan government tabled and approved legislative amendments to a state enactment for the implementation of hudud, Sabah DAP announced that its decision to suspend all ties with its PAS counterparts in the east Malaysian state.

The announcement preceded a meeting by DAP’s national leadership that was set for the following day.

After the meeting, it was announced that the DAP would stay in PR but cut all ties with PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang who the party accused of unilaterally pushing for the implementation of hudud without the approval of his allies.

Lim, who is DAP’s parliamentary leader, has since been issuing statements calling for the formation of a new government under a “Save Malaysia” coalition that he said could include politicians from both sides of the political divide as members.

Earlier today, Lim claimed his “Save Malaysia” government idea has attracted support from both Barisan Nasional (BN) and PR lawmakers amid the hudud controversy.

Among the five principles for the “Save Malaysia” coalition that Lim has previously mentioned are that the new coalition government must defend the Federal Constitution, abolish laws that contravene fundamental rights and review the 1963 Malaysia Agreement pertaining to Sabah and Sarawak.

Lim said today that the “Save Malaysia” bipartisan government must also include Malaysians of all race and religion, as well as those from East Malaysia, and that a prime minister from any party can be chosen to lead.