Pakatan Rakyat leaders in their monthly meeting this Wednesday, will discuss the recent flare-up over the sensitive issue of hudud.

Anwar at PKR hari raya open house 2011 Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim ( left ) told reporters this when met at the PKR Hari Raya open house at Tropicana Petaling Jaya today.

He added that the meeting was initially planned to discuss the upcoming 2012 budget that the PM will announce on 7 Oct and Pakatan's own pre-emptive budget.

The Permatang Pauh parliamentarian was asked to respond to DAP's Bukit Gelogor MP Karpal Singh who had yesterday called for an emergency Pakatan meeting to discuss the hudud controversy.

Anwar also said it is Karpal's right to voice his opinions on the matter.

He also said he will discuss the DAP leader's opinion with him during the meeting.

Hudud Umno's diversion

Also at the open house, PAS Youth chief Nasruddin Hassan said that hudud is part and parcel of the Islamic faith and it is the duty of all Muslims to discuss and know.

pas muktamar 130610 nasruddin hassan 1 However, he said that the issue should not have been "politicised or polemicised" but instead discussed in detail and in the proper manner.

Nasruddin ( left ) posits that only the BN government is keen to play up the matter in the media in order to obfuscate more important matters like fake ICs of dubious voters and the ISA.

He reiterated the Islamic party's stand that as Islam is the agenda, they hope to see hudud implemented one day, but allayed allegations and fears that hudud will adversely affect non-Muslims.

"This is for Muslims," assured Nasruddin.

DAP: Our position is clear

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, meanwhile, reiterated Karpal's statement that DAP never accepted hudud or the idea of setting up an Islamic state if they gained power to Putrajaya.

NONE "Our position is clear, we do not accept hudud and neither do we accept an Islamic state," Bernama reported him as saying when opening the Federal Territory DAP's annual convention in Kuala Lumpur today.

Lim said implementing hudud law or establishing an Islamic state was never mentioned in Pakatan's Orange Book (Buku Jingga), and the parties had only agreed to unite under common principles such as freedom, justice and democracy.

"We are a party of principles and leaders of principles. So, those leaders who say that after taking over Putrajaya, they will implement hudud and set up an Islamic state...no way. There is no possibility of this because it is not a common policy framework," he said.

In Klang, Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party president RS Thanenthiran said PAS' plan to implement hudud was unacceptable in the country's modern, plural society.

He said although the party was not against Islamic laws in principle, the implementation of hudud needed to be based on realities.

"In Malaysia, our supreme law is the Federal Constitution and other laws must comply with the constitution and it's more than enough to safeguard everyone regardless of race and religion," he told Bernama when attending a football tournament organised by the party at Kota Raja Stadium.

'When ready'

pas muktamar 130610 nik abdul aziz nik mat 1 In Kota Baharu, however, Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said the PAS state government would ensure that hudud would be implemented in the state through the syariah court system.

He said the state government was drawing up the Syariah Criminal Law Enactment (II) 1993 (Hudud law).

"When ready, the hudud law can be used as a guideline for the (syariah court) judges and they know what to do.

"The hudud law is actually not cruel and it will serve more as a lesson," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

The PAS spiritual leader, however, did not say when hudud could be implemented in the Kelantan syariah courts.

Nik Aziz also reiterated that he was prepared to see DAP leave the opposition pact if it disagreed with the hudud plan, and that he would not be attending the opposition pact's meeting this Wednesday for health reason.