KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has claimed that the “unity government” under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is run by non-Malays.
Muhyiddin also claimed he was pressured by DAP when he was the home minister in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal administration under then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad not to appeal against a High Court ruling that allowed a Sarawakian Bumiputera Christian to use the word “Allah” – a word of Middle Eastern roots referring to God – in her religious learning, news portal Free Malaysia Today reported.
“Even when I was with them (in the PH government), they pushed me not to allow an appeal,” he was quoted as saying in Kapar, Selangor late last night.
Muhyiddin also alleged that Anwar’s decision to not allow an appeal for the Allah issue was due to pressure by DAP.
“As a Malay leader, that is why I urged the PH government to appeal (against the High Court ruling).
“Even if we had lost the appeal at the highest court level, we could have made a law on the Allah issue,” he was quoted as saying
According to Muhyiddin, there is a big difference between a Muslim using the word “Allah” compared to Christians.
The news portal did not report if he elaborated on the difference.
Muhyiddin, who was prime minister from March 2020 to August 2021, was reported saying he could not proceed with the government appeal because Anwar became prime minister after GE15 last November.
“He became the prime minister and decided to stop the appeal, and when you don’t appeal it means you agree to the court order which allows Christians to use the word ‘Allah’,” he was quoted as saying.
He accused Anwar of being willing to do anything to stay in power, even if it meant befriending its arch political nemesis Umno.
There have been several other separate cases concerning the use of the word “Allah” by Christians that had gone to court in the last two decades.
The “Allah” issue returned to the limelight this year after news emerged on May 15 that the government was withdrawing its appeal in the case of Sarawakian Christian Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill who had challenged the Home Ministry’s right to ban her from using it and confiscating her religious materials that she had brought back after a trip to Indonesia 13 years ago.
On June 7, Anwar said his government will abide by the decision made by the Conference of Rulers when it meets in October to discuss the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims in Malaysia.
Anwar said the federal government’s stand is to recognise and apply the existing policy which limits the use of the word “Allah” to Muslims in peninsular Malaysia and to give a conditional relaxing of this policy for non-Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak.
Despite the announcement, the issue appears to continue to be on the simmer as six states head to the polls on August 12.
