A former ally today accused PAS of violating the Barisan Alternatif common manifesto following its president's declaration that Terengganu was an Islamic state.

DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang said if Terengganu Menteri Besar and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was right that the state had become an Islamic state when his party assumed power, then this was a clear breach of the 1999 manifesto - "Towards a Just Malaysia".

He said the manifesto did not make any references to the establishment of an Islamic state.

" (Abdul) Hadi never made this claim when DAP was still in BA," said the veteran politician whose party withdrew from the opposition coalition in 2001 after crossing swords with the Muslim-based PAS over its theocratic ambition.

Lim said although DAP had left the coalition o­n this ground, Abdul Hadi's proclamation that Terengganu was an Islamic state still came as a surprise.

"The other BA member parties (Keadilan and PRM) are clearly called upon to make a public stand whether they had agreed to Terengganu becoming an Islamic state after the 1999 general election," he said.

PAS wrested Terengganu away from Barisan Nasional in that year in a landslide victory. The party, which is often labelled an extremist by its adversaries, also controls neighbouring Kelantan.

No to '929'

Yesterday, Abdul Hadi was reported as saying that Terengganu had become an Islamic state since the party took over but Malaysia cannot be classified as such.

He said Malaysia was still using a secular constitution drafted during the colonial administration.

"Malaysia is not an Islamic nation...it is o­nly a nation for Muslims.

"The federal constitution clearly spells out that Islam is o­nly the federal religion," he said in reply to a question at the state legislative assembly.

In Sept 29, 2001, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had declared, much to DAP's chagrin, that Malaysia was an Islamic state to counter this assertion.

This prompted DAP to launch a campaign in protest of the declaration dubbed 'No to 929' which saw Lim and several other DAP leaders arrested for distributing leaflets which were allegedly seditious.

Fundamental objections

Meanwhile, Lim said it was sad that the PAS president failed to understand the fundamental objection to an Islamic state in Malaysia.

He said the protest was not spurred by anti-Islam sentiments or prejudices against the religion but was due to three reasons.

"Firstly, that Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-religious nation. Secondly, the system of governance must be based o­n citizenship and not religion...

"And thirdly, the fundamental constitutional principle and nation-building cornerstone in the 1957 Merdeka Constitution, the 'social contract' and 1963 Malaysia Agreement that Malaysia is a democratic, secular and multi-religious nation with Islam as the official religion but Malaysia is not an Islamic state," he explained.

On these three grounds, he said the PAS president's position was as unacceptable as the declaration by the prime minister in 1999.

The DAP leader was reacting to an interview with Abdul Hadi in the New Sunday Times which quoted him as saying that non-Muslims would accept PAS if they understood that an Islamic government was fair and could rule effectively.

Lim, who was the country's longest serving parliamentary opposition leader, also took a swipe at Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for making a similar declaration that Malaysia was an Islamic state last month.

"Abdullah's position is as baseless and unfounded as Mahathir's 929 declaration and (Abdul) Hadi's justification for an Islamic state in Malaysia," he said.