PKR to mediate in growing DAP-PAS hudud row

KUALA LUMPUR — Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) said yesterday it will lead attempts to mend deteriorating ties between the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), after DAP criticised PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang over his plans to implement hudud law in Kelantan.

PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli stressed that opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) cannot function without all the three parties, and that reconciliation should be the pact’s top priority.

But DAP leaders yesterday said the rift with PAS was beyond repair.

“We have given Hadi plenty of chances to explain himself ... So how many chances do we need to give Hadi before we decide that we are being toyed around with?” DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said yesterday.

Mr Rafizi said PKR would mediate and try to resolve the spat between DAP and PAS.

“Pakatan is like a tripod. We cannot survive without a leg of the tripod,” he said. “I think the best thing that can happen for the three parties is to come back, thrash it out behind closed doors,” he added.

Mr Rafizi said the PKR will issue an official statement on the matter soon and that it will meet with PAS and DAP separately.

The DAP pilloried Mr Hadi on Tuesday over the Islamist party’s hudud push, saying it will no longer work with the PAS president even as it vowed to remain in the PR pact.

The DAP’s central executive committee met on Monday night, and accused Mr Hadi of cooperating with the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the ruling party, on hudud, in violation of the pact’s common consensus and Common Policy Framework.

The DAP also told Mr Hadi to leave PR if he insists on continuing his bid to enforce hudud in Kelantan against the wishes of its two ally parties.

The DAP has been very vocal against PAS’ hudud push, even going as far as saying that since PR was on the verge of breaking up, a new bipartisan “Save Malaysia” coalition should be formed.

Going a step further, DAP leader Lim Kit Siang yesterday issued a statement soliciting potential names on who should lead such a coalition government.

Mr Lim explained that the new coalition should defend the Federal Constitution and uphold the rule of law, especially since both PR and Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions are divided internally over hudud.

BN component party Gerakan yesterday filed an application in the Kota Baru High Court to challenge the constitutionality of Kelantan’s Syariah criminal code.

Last Thursday, PAS-ruled Kelantan passed key amendments to its Syariah criminal code in a move to enable the eventual implementation of hudud in the Malay-majority state.

All 12 UMNO state lawmakers voted for the amendments but the ruling party’s national leadership has yet to declare if the same support would be given to PAS’ hudud ambition at the federal level, where the Islamist party is seeking to amend the country’s constitution so that hudud can be incorporated into Kelantan’s Syariah laws.

Mr Hadi has served notice to federal Parliament on the proposed Bill, but Law Minister Nancy Shukri said it may not reach the order paper for the current session that ends on April 9 as there are many others on schedule.

With DAP and PKR rejecting the hudud Bill, PAS and its 21 Members of Parliament in the lower house can pass the Bill only by relying on all UMNO Members of Parliament, as well as MPs from BN’s non-Muslim parties in order to get a simple majority of 112 votes. AGENCIES