I read with appalling amazement that the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi issued a directive to all Barisan Nasional MPs to toe the line when voting in the Parliament.

On the one hand he conceded that Jasin MP Dato' Mohd Said Yusof acted "inappropriately" over the seizure of an illegal timber consignment issue. But on the other, he was effectively telling MPs to vote against their conscience if it meant backing the government over an Opposition-tabled motion.

Like many who wrote to you on this issue over the past week, I take my hats off to Shahrir Abdul Samad for having the guts to support the Opposition's motion and in doing so, standing by his conscience and conviction, not least fulfilling his role as an MP worth his salt.

But I would like to go one step further, in the wake of the prime minister's statements, to question the consistency of the PM's stand in light of the much-admired Islam Hadhari principles that he so fervently champions.

One of the central tenets of Islam Hadhari is integrity. Plainly speaking, whatever the unwritten rule says, isn't the directive forbidding a Barisan MP - a Muslim MP in particular - to vote according to his conscience tantamount to making a mockery of integrity?

So much for Islam Hadhari. I would be terribly ashamed if cynics seize this opportunity to say of this noble concept: 'You're having a laugh'.