Pakatan Rakyat must prioritise issues of national sovereignty and security rather than lock horns over hudud, PKR central committee member Khalid Jafaar said.

Khalid (left) said among more pressing issues is the United States-China competition in the Pacific and the Moro peace deal in southern Philippines.

"China has upped its military strength drastically and in response, the US has transferred 60 percent of its naval powers to Asia Pacific waters.

"This makes Asia Pacific the ground zero for what could be the worst military clash in human history. It’s a huge thing which is never discussed in our country," Khalid said.

Malaysia also suffers from fallout from any failed peace deals in Southern Philippines in the form of an influx of refugees.

"Such issues are far more real than what is now polemicised," he said, urging the Muslim community to think of issues that could better advance the nation.

Khalid said this while representing think tank Institut Kajian Dasar (IKD), which he heads, at a forum on the hudud jointly organised by Malaysiakini and Jalan Telawi Dotcom in Petaling Jaya last night.

Fellow panelist, DAP’s Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong (below) said the hudud discourse has descended into a “machismo” battle, even among parties made up mostly of non-Muslim members.

"Among non-Malay political parties as well as in the Chinese press and The Star , the question asked is why does DAP support PAS, why doesn’t DAP leave Pakatan Rakyat, why does DAP support hudud. This is a politics of masochismo,” he said.

Similarly, he said, Utusan Malaysia will ask PAS why it is still in Pakatan.

“What we need a coalition which will oppose Umno with new ideas, and ideas which can unite.

“We can only win elections by presenting new centrist ideas which appeals to all, and not just one section of society,” he said.

Keep PAS in the mainstream

Also on the panel was lawyer Muhammad Faiz, the son of the late PAS president Fadzil Noor credited for ushering what observers saw as a more moderate PAS.

Fadzil led PAS to form Barisan Alternatif with DAP and the then Keadilan in 1999.

He died in 2002 and Barisan Alternatif disbanded in 2004 over hudud disputes.

Muhammad Faiz (left) said PAS members should reject those who try to "inflame" the issue to the extent of provoking a Pakatan break-up.

Instead, he urged PAS delegates at the June party elections to choose leaders who "want to continue (his father’s) legacy" to put PAS in the mainstream of politics.

Although stressing that he is not campaigning for everyone, he mentioned that incumbent deputy president Mohamad Sabu and vice president Husam Musa are among leaders his father cultivated.

For example, he said Mohamad’s move to champion the anti-goods and service tax movement should be lauded.

“These are PAS leaders which we must push up. Why do we keep looking at those who keep inflaming this hudud issue when they have little credibility in society?” he asked.

He says while there are those in all three Pakatan parties who want out of the coalition, many also want to remain together.

“Delegates must be wise in choosing PAS leaders - those who will continue or kill the hopes of the people,” he said.

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