PAS Leadership Should Rein in Its MPs from Careless Remarks

UPDATE:

8TH April 2008

Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakub says BN-controlled mainstream mass media such as the NST deliberately misquoted him on the Islamic state issue to create divisions between the parties in Pakatan Rakyat. Read here for more

--- end of update ---

We say,

Some PAS MPs are becoming retrogressive and tunnel-visioned with careless remarks about the Islamic State since winning their seats in the 2008 Election.

Any talk of an Islamic State is not what voters, especially non-Muslim, expect from PAS MPs. Certainly they did NOT vote for an Islamic state.

These loose-cannons in the PAS must be reminded by the PAS top leadership that PAS's success in the recent election outside Kelantan came about with strong support from non-Muslims.

They should not conveniently forget that PAS is only one of the three parties in the newly minted Pakatan Rakyat.

These PAS MPs who are proned to careless remarks to the media should learn the lesson of 2004, and in particular, not to take non-muslim votes for granted, in Kelantan or outside.

We urge the PAS leadership to bring these wayward MPs into line, otherwise PAS's success as a preferred party to govern states outside Kelantan will be an accidental freak in our political history.
-Malaysian Unplug

NST reported: Kelantan Pas Youth (said it) supports Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakub's proposal that Pas become the backbone of the new opposition coalition to realise the objective of establishing an Islamic state.

Yesterday, the Kedah and Terengganu Pas Youth echoed Kelantan's position, with national Youth vice-head Azman Shapawi Abdul Rani saying the party should anchor the coalition as it had been in existence for much longer than Parti Keadilan Rakyat and the DAP.

In Kedah, Pas Youth head Musaddak Ahmad said he was confident of Pas' ability to lead the coalition by highlighting the Islamic concept in national administration. "As such, Pas should become the backbone of the coalition to realise the objective of forming an Islamic state," he said.

DAP chairman Karpal Singh yesterday slammed Pas Youth for suggesting that the Islamist party use the Pakatan Rakyat as a springboard to an Islamic state.

Reiterating his stand, Karpal said Pas should accept the provision in the Federal Constitution and judicial pronouncement by the Supreme Court in 1988 that Malaysia was a secular state and not an Islamic one.

Karpal said,

"Pas should be realistic and practical to ensure that the Pakatan Rakyat is not derailed by public statements in the nature of wanting to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state.

In any event, Pas has only 23 seats to the DAP's 28 and PKR's 31. I cannot see how Pas can make such a claim."

PKR vice-president Mohamad Azmin Ali said the formation of Pakatan Rakyat was based on a common agenda and the Islamic state was not part of it. He said,

"The Islamic state was NOT one of the issues discussed and agreed upon by the top leadership, even by Pas, as the consensus was to work on a common platform.

But, ultimately, the top leadership must agree on the basis for the formation of the new alliance and the fact remains that the coalition must work based on consensus and principles which have been agreed upon by all parties."

COMMENTARY

From Haris Ibrahim of People's Parliament Blog: Read here

Since 8th March, I have had occasion to mention to two PAS MPs that they should NOT mistake votes for PAS by Chinese and Indians at the 12th GE as a vote of support for PAS.

The majority of non-Malays, and a great many Malays, especially in the urban constituencies, voted for PAS because they had simply had it with BN.

That is NOT a vote of support.

I had said to those two PAS MPs that if PAS wanted to turn those ‘protest’ votes into ’support’ votes, PAS needed to do much work to allay concerns about their Islamic state agenda that still troubles many in civil society.

Today, Pas Youth head Musaddak Ahmad had said that Pas should become the backbone of Pakatan Rakyat to realise the objective of forming an Islamic state.

To this, the same report has it that PKR vice-president Mohamad Azmin Ali said that Pas had the right to express these views.

Yes, PAS has the right to express its views.

So do the rakyat.

We did on 8th March and we can do it AGAIN.
-Haris Ibrahim