In the letter, Which is more unjust: hudud or ISA? , the writer made some good points in comparing the civility and procedural justice of PAS' hudud (Islamic penal code) laws and Barisan Nasional's Internal Security Act (ISA).

Indeed, however cruel hudud sentences are, it still requires open trials, witnesses and lawyers to prove beyond reasonable doubt that an accused really deserved to be convicted and sentenced.

However, ISA can destroy the entire life of a person by locking him or her up indefinitely, without open trial, witnesses and the right the defend oneself through lawyers.

Under hudud , one is innocent until proven guilty, but under ISA, one is first arbitrarily deemed guilty until the home minister arbitrary changes his or her mind. The fairness or otherwise of hudud and ISA is obvious for all who think rationally with a modern frame of mind.

However, two wrongs do not make a right. We do not have to choose between ISA and hudud . We can oppose and reject both at the same time.

Translate into practical terms, it means we must vote against both BN and PAS in the coming general elections. Instead, we should vote for DAP, Keadilan and PRM.

DAP and PRM have clear stand on both the hudud and ISA.

While Keadilan's opposition to ISA is clear, it needs more electoral support to strengthen itself vis-a-vis PAS on the question of hudud . In real-life politics, only number counts, and survival is the first priority.

Only by strengthening the forces of moderate Muslims in opposition against both the extremism of BN and religious fanaticism of PAS could Malaysia hope to preserve and enlarge the middle grounds.

Meanwhile, while I salute DAP and PRM for their clear stand on both ISA and hudud , I think DAP is unwise to attempt to weaken Keadilan just because of the personal ego of some leaders and some petty squabbles over seat allocations and differences over membership policies.

Unless and until DAP has attracted the participation and political allegiance of a significant number of Muslims who constitute the majority in Malaysia, any attempt on its part to weaken Keadilan can be seen as assisting Umno and PAS indirectly and effectively.

It is immature, selfish and highly irresponsible, however smartly its intention are camouflaged by the language of democracy and human rights.