KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — The Pakatan Harapan government is headed towards inevitable difficulty, PAS Youth chief Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi asserted, citing public disagreements within the pact.
He was commenting on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement that the country might not extradite controversial Muslim preacher Zakir Naik.
Muhammad claimed that Dr Mahathir’s tendency to make major decisions without consulting the Cabinet is causing tensions in the government that will eventually implode.
“Can it be seen as the Cabinet being weak and some of its members do not live up to expectations, that's why Tun Dr Mahathir doesn’t refer to them at all? Or is it because he doesn’t trust some of them to the point of making his own decisions? You can see that some of the other PH leaders were vocal in their criticism of his recent decisions,” he said in a statement.
He was also referring to Dr Mahathir’s recent decision to appoint former PKR member and lawyer Latheefa Koya as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission;s chief commissioner.
“This shows that the PH government is not as strong and stable as it claims to be. It’s a ticking time bomb that is waiting to go off from the differing ideologies, policies and mentality,” said Muhammad.
However, Muhammad said he agreed with the PM’s stance on extraditing Zakir to India on the fear that he will not be given a fair trial.
He said it was unbecoming of DAP Legal Bureau chairman Ramkarpal Singh to question Dr Mahathir’s decision.
He said that Zakir was a credible Islamic preacher who was known for increasing the influence of Islam all over the world, with a leaning towards the Islam that loves peace and rejects violence, and not the extreme religion that sparks Islamaphobia.
“Zakir Naik is a guest in Malaysia and while he has been here, he has not done anything illegal, in fact his presence is welcomed by the majority in this country. His status as an international preacher should be enough to prove that he is not as others claim him to be,” he said, adding that he believed the prime minister made the decision due to Zakir’s status and credibility.
He said that the decision not to extradite Zakir was unlikely to cause any tensions between India and Malaysia.
It was reported earlier that India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) will seek Interpol’s cooperation to detain controversial preacher Dr Zakir Naik with an eye on extraditing him from Malaysia to face money-laundering charges of 193 crore Indian rupees (RM115 million) as well as his real estate purchases across the world.
The ED is reportedly working on getting a non-bailable warrant for Dr Zakir’s arrest from a Mumbai court, which it expects to secure on June 19.
Dr Mahathir had last year said as long as Dr Zakir did not create problems during his time here, he would not be deported.
He has been banned in several countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Bangladesh, but has found refuge in Malaysia.
