“There is nothing more dangerous than a desperate man who has nothing to lose.”

- Ethical hacker Rafay Baloch.

QUESTION TIME Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s move to work with opposition Islamist party PAS to bring forward the tabling of a private member’s bill to pave the way for hudud is a desperate act by a desperate person in a desperate situation.

It is dangerous because in an all-out move towards self-preservation as the noose tightens over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd or 1MDB issue, Najib is throwing overboard time-honoured consultation processes with long-time coalition partners in BN in favour of what appears to be a budding alliance with PAS.

Not just that, it will lead to increasing religious and hence racial polarisation in the country as non-Muslim political parties prepare to oppose the private member’s bill tabled by no less than PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang at the next session of Parliament.

But dangerous as it is in terms of how it could split the country down the middle, initial numbers indicate that it could pay off for Najib going by current parliamentary seats and the parties that hold them, although the outcome is by no means certain...