Jeffrey begs to be enlightened on 'What is an Islamic state and is there only one version?' (Oct 19). And he should be. The issues are hardly difficult ones, once you clear the rhetoric off the surface.

1) Why PAS' purist vision? Simple. This is the very reason for the party's existence, it is an ideology or a platform, clever branding couched in lofty moralistic ideals.

2) BN's version was deemed necessary to counter the Islamic branding of PAS. On both sides it is purely a question of power and electorate support. Spirituality in my opinion has nothing to do with either's stand.

3) DAP's motives for opposing the Islamic state issue is even simpler to understand. The current debate over our country's future administrative model is being undertaken by only two parties, Barisan Nasional and PAS, i.e., between the Muslims. This is what DAP rightfully opposes.

DAP has no choice but to opt out of the Barisan Alternatif alliance because the leadership failed to stand up to the fact that PAS' continued stand on its Islamic vision has no place in an alliance. If one needs to look for blame, blame no one but the leader of BA for this failure.

So what about the compromise Jeffrey suggests? My question is, why in the first place does Malaysia need to be an Islamic state of any kind?

Firstly in terms of demographics, recent statistics suggest 52 percent of Malaysians are Muslim. While this is a technical majority, 48 percent of Malaysians who are not Muslim hardly form a minority.

In Sabah and Sarawak, the percentages are even lower, 38 percent and 20 percent respectively (sources: US Dept of Commerce 2000). We are speaking of fundamental changes to our system which affect nearly half of Malaysia's 19 million people, and who knows how many percent of the Muslim population who also disagree with the Islamic state issue.

Secondly, in terms of spirituality, has Islam not been given full state support? Hardly. The root of our problems does not lie in spirituality, it lies in a our collective mindset that allows lack of transparency, which condones corruption and which allows abuse of power. PAS has no proof that an Islamic state is not capable of such abuse.

As such, those of us who disagree with the Islamic state issue are not interested in the petty electoral struggles of PAS and Umno; we are more concerned with the future of a Malaysia which has promised to be a prosperous and free country for all Malaysians. Let us not allow either parties to trivialise this.