Lim Kit Siang proposes women MPs as possible PM in new coalition

KUALA LUMPUR — Democratic Action Party (DAP) leader Lim Kit Siang yesterday fleshed out his proposal for a new bipartisan coalition, as the deadlock on both sides of the political divide continues over whether to introduce hudud law in Kelantan.

Women Members of Parliament (MPs) from Sabah and Sarawak could be the next prime minister of a new coalition government, Mr Lim suggested yesterday as a follow-up to his proposed bipartisan Save Malaysia pact.

Among the names listed as candidates by Mr Lim were Law Minister Nancy Shukri, Deputy Works Minister Rosnah Rashid Shirlin as well as Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim.

“If such a new coalition gets the support of the majority of the 222 MPs, then there will be a new prime minister and, clearly, it will not be Najib,” Mr Lim said in a statement, referring to incumbent Najib Razak.

Both the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have failed to reach internal consensus on hudud. Within the PR, the DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) oppose Parti Islam Se-Malaysia’s (PAS) Bill to implement hudud in the north-eastern state. The DAP has been particularly vocal, going as far as saying that since PR was on the verge of breaking up, a new bipartisan coalition should be formed.

Stressing that this was his personal opinion, Mr Lim said: “The new PM can be from Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak or Sabah, can be a man or a woman, but he or she must be one who is committed to defending the bedrock constitutional principles like the first five Prime Ministers of Malaysia.”

Other names floated by Mr Lim included Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, Kalabakan MP Abdul Ghapur Salleh, who are both from Sabah, as well as Works Minister Fadillah Yusof from Sarawak.

“I have not mentioned Shafie Apdal or Abdul Rahman Dahlan, two current Cabinet Ministers from Sabah, as they seem to support Hadi’s private member’s Bill,” the DAP parliamentary leader added, referring to the hudud Bill filed for federal parliamentary debate by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Mr Lim added that the two Sabahan federal ministers have been making excuses for the Prime Minister’s silence on the multiracial BN’s official stand on the implementation of hudud in Malaysia.

Mr Lim’s proposal may resonate with people in Sabah and Sarawak — particularly the former as frustration over what is perceived to be Putrajaya’s refusal to review and honour the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 is slowly coming to a boil. Some in Sabah believe that the 20 points contained in the 1963 agreement protecting their interests, rights and autonomy — which was agreed upon before Sabah joined a new federal union with the states in western Malaysia as well as Sarawak — have not been safeguarded.

PAS-ruled Kelantan passed key amendments to its Syariah criminal code on March 19 in a move to enable the eventual implementation of hudud in the Malay-majority state.

All 12 United Malays National Organisation (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 hudud can be incorporated into Kelantan’s Syariah laws. Opponents of hudud say having separate criminal justice systems would undermine the Constitution.

PAS and its 21 MPs in the Lower House can pass the Bill only by relying on all MPs from UMNO — BN’s lead party — as well as MPs from BN’s non-Muslim parties to get a simple majority of 112 votes. But many of BN’s non-Muslim parties are not in favour of hudud. AGENCIES