DAP stalwart Karpal Singh has once again reminded Anwar Ibrahim and PAS that there is no room for an Islamic agenda in secular Malaysia.

In view of this, he urged the opposition leader and Islamic party to drop their Islamic state agenda and the intention of implementing hudud laws.

karpal singh 201108 Should PAS, in particular, fail to do so and goes ahead with enforcing their implementation, DAP will pull out of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, said Karpal.

"DAP will have no alternative. We have to be consistent in our principles. We cannot sacrifice our principles at the expense of public interest and what we have been saying all along," the Bukit Gelugor MP told reporters today.

"It’s a very fundamental issue and I think this has to be settled among the parties of Pakatan. The only settlement is this: we go with the federal constitution," he said.

Karpal said this after submitting a letter to Yang Dipertuan Agong Mizan Zainal Abidin on the matter of Chief Justice Zaki Azmi at Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur.

Karpal said the Islamic state vision went against the federal constitution's secular vision of Malaysia. Both these visions, he stressed, cannot be reconciled even if Islamic laws were only applicable to Muslims.

"We say that hudud laws are inapplicable across the board to all races. You can’t say it’s just for Muslims. You can’t have two systems: one for Muslims and one for non-Muslims.

"There can only be one system, the system which is there now, which is guaranteed by the federal constitution, whereby it is the federal parliament that passes criminal laws," said Karpal.

'Respect the federal constitution'

Other than in a limited way such as in the areas of marriage, divorce and inheritance, the constitution does not go to the extent of allowing state legislatures to implement hudud laws whether only on Muslims or otherwise, said Karpal.

"It is beyond reconciliation. The only hope (for Pakatan) is for PAS to give up its intention to set up an Islamic state and for Anwar to withdraw his statement that PKR is for hudud if it is applicable only to Muslims," he said.

anwar ibrahim 060207 "I call upon PAS and Anwar to respect the federal constitution. In fact, I'm surprised at Anwar's ambivalent stand on this.

"PAS has been quite consistent in their stand right from the beginning. But I didn't expect Anwar to say that PKR is also for hudud even though it's limited to Muslims."

Karpal also called for PAS to consult with one of its own leading members - former Lord President Salleh Abas - who two decades ago delivered a judgment declaring Malaysia to be a secular state with secular laws.

"PAS should, in fact, have a word with Salleh Abas and have him explain to them what he did together with four other judges at the Supreme Court which, at that time, was the supreme court of the land.

"That judgment is still there, it has not been overruled, and PAS must respect it. It must be respected by everyone," he added.

Alluding to statements by MCA leaders who had campaigned in the Kuala Terengganu by-election against DAP and accused it of being ambivalent on the issue of hudud, Karpal hoped Chinese voters would be more discerning on the issue.

"I call upon the Chinese in Kuala Terengganu not to be duped by the MCA, particularly on hudud law. The stand of the DAP has been clear right from the beginning. We are against hudud laws. The Chinese should not be in any doubt what the DAP’s stand is on it."