Anwar Ibrahim slammed Umno for its hypocrisy on the hudud issue, for putting it down in front of a non-Muslim audience while they attack Pakatan on being “traitors to their religion” for “consorting with non-Muslims”.

NONE “We condemn the hypocrisy of Umno and Barisan Nasional in exploiting the hudud issue for political mileage.

“Even more deplorable are the sinister machinations orchestrated by Umno in attempting to stoke the fires of ethnic and religious tension by repeatedly playing up the issue in their media,” said the opposition leader in a speech in Terengganu yesterday.

“To the non-Muslim audience, they project an anti-syariah stance even on some occasions rubbishing it as a primitive system while to the Muslim audience; they relentlessly attack Pakatan Muslim leaders as being traitors to their religion and race by consorting with non-Muslim leaders.

He said Umno was out to “drive a wedge in the Pakatan coalition” and cause internal dissent to boost the ruling coalition’s chances at the upcoming GE.

Saying that Pakatan was built on “the principle of consensus and mutual trust and respect” he called for issues concerning the people to be discussed “frankly in a civilised manner” with an eye to an amicable resolution.

“We also believe that each and every component party of the coalition should be given its legitimate right to explain its position on significant issues to its members,” said the PKR de facto leader.

Anwar also reminded that he himself had once turned to the Syariah Court in his claim against Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan for alleged false witness ( qazaf ) over the sodomy accusation.

“The fact is it was Umno’s minister of religious affairs who had stopped me from pursuing the  claim for qazaf ,” he said.

‘Respect Kelantan’s aspirations’

On the hudud issue itself, Anwar said, “On the aspirations of Kelantan for implementing hudud, my view is that we should duly respect their decision, but of course it would be subject to certain considerations.”

Firstly, he said, was that its implementation must be subject to the maqasid al syariah (higher objectives of the syariah), “the most paramount of which is to ensure justice for all, regardless of race, status or religion”.    

This, he said, requires capable syariah judges who are free and independent of political pressure “or other kinds of influence that would impair its functions”.

He added that while he as a Muslim he was personally was bound by the laws of the Quran, at the same time “in the context of Malaysian society, we are all bound by the federal constitution”.

“As I have stated before, the right to practice one’s faith is a fundamental freedom that is guaranteed by the federal constitution.

“In this regard, it must be stressed that non-Muslims are and must continue to be in all circumstances exempt from the syariah jurisdiction.

“This view is perfectly consistent with the position of the Pakatan Rakyat as laid out in the Orange Book,” said Anwar.