I refer to the malaysiakini report PM: Yes, we ARE an Islamic state .

How does an incumbent government which is facing an election in the not-too-distant future and which is struggling with a weakening economy and a poor record in combating corruption (one of its election promises) turn the tables? Simple, make a non-issue an issue. Declare Malaysia an Islamic state.

How is this going to work you may ask. Well, simple again. The DAP, the unwilling BN stooge, will take care of it. You can count on the DAP to not take this declaration sitting down. The DAP will start the hopeless debate with the BN government about the 'seribu satu dalil' (the one thousand and one reasons) why Malaysia is not an Islamic state based entirely on law and historical facts.

The BN government in turn, will only need to show that the DAP is indeed anti-Islam and in turn anti-Malay (in Malaysia, Malay = Islam). This in turn will make PKR, which is cooperating with the DAP, also anti-Islam and anti-Malay for working with the DAP.

Since, PAS is working with PKR, they, too, are part of this anti-Islamic movement. I'm sure the BN government will try and throw in a Jewish connection somewhere down the line. Just to make things a little more global.

The only way the DAP can hope to win in this debate is to counter the Islamic state claim by making its own declaration that Malaysia is a 'corrupt state'. I'm sure they have ample evidence of this. Take it to the next level and claim that the BN government is insulting Islam by calling Malaysia an Islamic state.

After all, all the bad things they are doing can't be attributed to Islam. Give all the good examples of how an Islamic state should work and show people that the claim is simply not true because of the BN government actions.

Simpler still, just ignore the declaration and move on to some more pressing issues like the declining economy and increasing corruption.