The two by-elections in Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's home state of Kedah this month did not change any political equation, but they could still impact on the future of the country's fragile democracy.

The July 18 by-elections ended in a tie between the ruling Barisan Nasional and PAS — the ruling coalition led by Mahathir wrested back one seat and PAS kept the other one.

But the poll also underscored a continuous battle by Umno, the backbone of the BN, to win the hearts and minds of the mainly Malay Muslim constituents and get them away from the Islamic party PAS.

Indeed, behind the by-elections many Malaysians fear that the battle between Umno and PAS to 'out-Islam' each other — being played out for months now — has widened the gaps among the multi-ethnic population in this country of 23 million people.

For Umno, winning the Pendang parliamentary seat in Kedah in the by-election was sweet victory, more so because it belonged to PAS president Fadzil Noor, whose death in June created the vacancy. The by-elections was also for the state seat of Anak Bukit, Fadzil's other seat, which PAS held on to.

Stamp of approval

PAS claimed that its victory was the people's stamp of approval for its proposal to institute 'hudud law' (Islamic criminal law), and Umno said its victory was because voters rejected PAS.

"With Islam becoming a political tool, the fear is that religion is no longer personal but by coercion. When confronted, many Muslims would hide behind the ideals of Islam but what about applied Islam?'' asked cultural activist Eddin Khoo.

Analysts say that the debate about Islam may be heightening new divisions in a society already divided between bumiputras and non-bumiputras like the Chinese, Indians and indigenous people.

Despite the battle between Umno and PAS, there is a thin line betweenthe moderates and the fundamentalists among the Malays.

Political commentator Rozaid Abdul Rahman says members of both parties and non-partisan Malays are of the same Islamic school of Sunni thought, but "what they differ is in term of party politics''.

''That's why in issues such as Islamic laws or 'hudud', no Muslims would ever oppose them in public. To say negative things about the accepted teachings is opening oneself to fierce attacks by either official religious leaders or self-appointed scholars,'' said Rahman.

Population background

Malays make up 55 percent of the population, Chinese 30 percent, Indians 10 percent and others, including non-Muslim natives of Sabah and Sarawak, 5 percent.

Malaysia was built on the premise of a semi-secular state with Islam as the official religion. The politicisation of religion, in a sense, began decades ago and the debate these days has been heightened in the post-Sept 11 environment

About 20 years ago, PAS reinvented itself to become a mirror image of an Iranian-style, mullah-ruled party. Mahathir decided to outdo the Islamists by introducing the inculcation of Islamic values in all aspects of life, or Islamisation.

In 1998, the BN suffered a setback after Mahathir sacked his protege, Anwar Ibrahim, and the premier's Umno party lost 17 parliamentary seats in the general election the next year.

Many Umno members and supporters switched camp to PAS which, allied with the anti-Mahathir opposition, gained by increasing its seats to 27. That figure was half the total 45 opposition seats in 1999.

Although the ruling coalition kept its two-thirds national majority, it suffered its worst loss since independence in 1957. The state of Terengganu fell to PAS, which already holds Kelantan, giving it control of two of Malaysia's 13 states.

PAS also claims its membership more than doubled to almost 900,000 between 1997 and 2000, since Anwar's sacking. Umno has a claimed membership of 2.8 million.

'Islamic state' declaration

Umno decided to become more religious in its efforts to combat PAS' influence. After the Sept 11 attacks, Mahathir declared Malaysia an ''Islamic state'', although many found it just a political statement. No laws were amended, no new rulings instituted.

Mahathir's international popularity surged as a moderate Muslim leader. Arrests of Muslim militants in the country paved the way for US President George W Bush to invite the 76-year-old Malaysian leader to the White House in May.

But at home, the PAS and UMNO game of trying to out-Islam each other had been creating the Islamic mould deep in the hearts and minds of the Malays.

By 1993, the PAS-led government in north-eastern Kelantan state enacted the first hudud law. The issue died down until recently, when PAS-controlled Terengganu state approved a similar version of hudud law on July 8.

In truth, both states cannot enforce these laws because Malaysian Constitution limits the state jurisdiction of Islamic laws up to offenses with five years imprisonment, RM5,000 or six strokes of whipping. Anything beyond the limits is deemed unconstitutional.

Since 1957, each state has had its own Islamic law or shariah law, which governs Muslims only on matters pertaining to adultery, divorce, alimony, drinking in public and preventing religious teachings contrary to the Sunni sect.

Hudud punishments call for the death penalty — either by stoning, beheading or crucifixion — for apostasy, illicit sex and murder, cutting off of limbs for theft, and lashes of the whip for unmarried persons who commit illicit sex or drinking.

The row over hudud grew further because although it is not enforceable, Terengganu chief minister Abdul Hadi Awang announced that it would be made common law and apply to non-Muslims once PAS takes over the country.

This drew protests from opposition parties and NGOs close to them, who demanded that PAS adhere to the opposition's common manifesto of 1999 — to strive for democracy, justice and freedom.

The Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP), a former PAS allyin a loose opposition coalition in 1999, blasted PAS and Umno for playing religious politics.

Unhealthy competition

On July 21, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang stated that PAS' 'hudud' is against the constitution, violates human rights and discriminates against women.

He voiced concern that it would "put great pressure on Umno in the unhealthy competition between the two parties to out-Islam each other, to the great detriment of the orderly development and progress of plural Malaysia".

Last week, the rights group Suaram said in a statement: "The apparent haste in the passing of the bill and its attempted implementation starkly illustrates the Terengganu State Government's failure to address the substance and spirit of Islamic Laws in its most non-compulsive, fair, understanding, compassionate and peaceful form.''

Groups such as the Women's Aid Organisation, Sisters in Islam and All Women Action Society say hudud law would not address the causes of problems, but act on the sole basis of deterrence through harsh and cruel punishment.

While progressive groups are challenging attempts to change the principles of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society in Malaysia, PAS' arch-rival in politics — Umno — is still silent on hudud .

Mahathir recently said that the party supports hudud law — "but not those by PAS".

Many see Umno as playing the politics of religion, but in the process, it may well end up empowering its enemy PAS. — IPS