Critical PKR parliamentarian Zulkifli Noordin has been told to respect the party’s stand on the ‘Allah’ issue, said vice-president Azmin Ali.

azmin ali pc in parliament 020709 02 Speaking to Malaysiakini today, the PKR chief whip said Zuklifli was called up by the party supremo Anwar Ibrahim to clarify the matter at a recent meeting.

“After the ‘Allah’ issue came up, the party had a discussion with Zulkifli and action has been taken (based on that).

“(At the meeting), he shared his views but the party finally told him to work within the Pakatan Rakyat framework.”

Zulkifli, who is the Kulim Bandar-Baru MP, had openly criticised the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling t hat allows Christian publication Herald to use ‘Allah’ in describing God in its Malay-language section.

Known for his strong views, especially on racial and religious matters, the practising Syarie lawyer claimed that the word ‘Allah’ could be abused by the Christians and eventually confuse Muslims.

Things took turn for the worse when Zulkifli challenged Khalid Samad, his fellow Pakatan MP from PAS, to step down and join Chinese-based party DAP for defending the non-Muslim right to use the word ‘Allah’.

However, PKR issued a statement two days later, welcoming the landmark court decision and calling it “an excellent development (that) should be accepted with an open heart”.

anwar qazaf case at syariah court 070110 zulkifli nordin Azmin said Zulkifli (right) should work based on consensus whenever issues involve party policies.

“Whenever they want to come up with any policy statement, every single member needs to adhere to the principles in PKR,” said Azmin.

This also applies to private member’s bills for submission in the Dewan Rakyat.

Azmin advised Zulkifli to discuss these at a pre-council meeting before pushing for a motion to be debated in Parliament.

“Zulkifli has met Anwar (about this) and the party has given very strong views on his statements in the past. But we need to give him a chance because, maybe, he did not know the party policy then.”

‘Agreement’ from Zulkifli

Zulkifli is no stranger to controversy. In 2008, he and several other Malay-based NGOs had barged into a Bar Council meeting, resulting in the PKR disciplinary committee  recommending punishment against him.

In the last Parliament session, the PKR maverick submitted 20 Islam-related motions, which appeared to contradict the policies of the multi-racial PKR.

islam and judiciary judgement The motions, among others, were to proclaim that Malaysia is not a secular country, and to suggest that Islamic laws be made independent of the constitution.

Azmin said the party is not stopping party representatives from expressing their concern on certain matters.

“But when it comes to the party stand or solution, he has to respect it,” he said, adding that Zulkifli has agreed to this.

Zulkifli could not be reached for comment either on his mobile phone or via text message.

Anwar can no longer ignore the Zulkifli problem