Although no date has been set yet for the next general election, two rival political parties, Gerakan and DAP, are already heating up the pre-polls debate with their respective rhetoric on whether Malaysia is an Islamic state.

Starting the debate, Gerakan President Dr Lim Keng Yaik said at a press conference yesterday that he was prepared to challenge opposition party DAP's views against the declaration by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Sept 29, 2001, that Malaysia is already an Islamic state.

"DAP has gone to town with their stand - to oppose the Islamic state declaration by the prime minister. This was done to put fear among Chinese voters," he told reporters.

According to Keng Yaik, Malaysia qualified as an Islamic state because Islam was already the national religion and the religion of the King. In addition, he said that some 60 percent of the country's population are Muslims.

"This is dangerous politicking (by DAP). Gerakan will take on (DAP chairperson) Lim Kit Siang in debating this issue," he said.

However, responding to Keng Yaik's views which were also expressed during a speech he made last week in Ipoh, Kit Siang said today that he received the "shock of his life" when he read Gerakan's support for Mahathir's Islamic state declaration.

"I have no doubt that if the question had been asked in the first 44 years of Malaysian nationhood, the answer given by 100 percent of Malaysians would have made a clear and unequivocal 'No!'," he said in a statement.

According to Kit Siang, the Gerakan president's approach was akin to rewriting the constitution or the history of the country.

Secular OIC members

In addition, Kit Siang also rejected claims by Barisan Nasional leaders that Malaysia is an Islamic state by virtue or recognition given to it by other Islamic states members as host of the 10 th Organisation of Islamic Conference summit.

Referring to an article published by weekly magazine MASSA and a recent speech by Mahathir, he said not all members of the OIC were Islamic states even though many recognised Islam as the official religion.

For example, he said several members such as Mali, Niger, Guinea and Turkey were clearly secular nations.

"The overwhelming majority of the 57 member nations in the OIC are secular and not Islamic states. The majority of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world live in secular states and not in Islamic states," he further stressed.

To disprove Keng Yaik, Kit Siang said he was prepared to meet with the former with the necessary documentary evidence that Malaysia was not an Islamic state when she achieved independence from the British in 1957.

"I am prepared to listen to Keng Yaik and whatever proof he has to substantiate his ludicrous stand."

The Islamic state issue is expected to be a crucial matter in the battle for non-Malay votes in the upcoming general election.

It is widely believed that DAP's association with PAS during the 1999 general election had been among several key factors leading to the strong tide of Chinese support for the Barisan Nasional.

Following its failure to convince PAS to drop its Islamic state agenda, DAP left the opposition front in Sept 2001 and had since been vocally opposing attempts by the government to label the country and Islamic state.