Most Read
Most Commented
Read more like this

On March 27 last year, a seemingly innocuous remark to the Dewan Rakyat by the minister in charge of Islamic affairs inadvertently revived the once dormant attempt of PAS to implement hudud.

Minister Jamil Khir Baharom, when asked by lawmakers if Putrajaya would allow certain states to implement hudud, said: "Federal government will be ready to work with any state government that is prepared to implement hudud, including Kelantan."

Jamil Khir ( left ) even asked PAS lawmakers to table a Private Member's Bill to amend the national laws preventing the enforcement of hudud.

Immediately, the Kelantan government under the helm of Menteri Besar Ahmad Yaakob pounced on the opportunity, leading to the formation of a technical committee comprising experts from both Putrajaya and the Kelantan government to flesh out the details.

After three meetings, the Kelantan government announced late last year that it would amend the Syariah Criminal Code II 1993, presumably in preparation for Parliament to remove the legal hurdles.

The amendments were passed by the PAS-dominated Kelantan State Assembly March 18 - nearly a year after Jamil Khir made the initial 'dare' - with full support from arch rival Umno, and it drew a harsh protest from Pakatan Rakyat allies DAP and PKR.

If PAS and DAP's relationship had been on thin ice before the furore, it is at meltdown stage now, with the DAP refusing to work with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

The art of posturing

Asked to assess the situation, DAP international affairs bureau executive secretary Howard Lee said he believed that PAS' leaders acted in haste, with the aim of killing two birds with one stone.

Firstly, Lee ( right ) postulates that pursuing the hudud agenda would bury claims, most prominently from Umno, that PAS was being "oppressed and enslaved" by DAP for the past seven years.

Secondly, Lee believes that Hadi and his followers have foreseen that his 13-year reign in PAS will finally be challenged.

"The question now is whether or not Kelantan PAS genuinely wants to push for hudud to fulfil their version of God's will.

"And also, are there not any other pressing governance and legislative agenda, like post-flood recovery and a stagnant, if not regressing, state economy?

"Or is this some sick, twisted chain of events, ignoring the nation's fundamental tenets and prospects of real political change, orchestrated by and for the few key players as campaign material to ensure they retain power within PAS leading up to June?" asked Lee, a first term lawmaker from Perak.

This political posturing by certain figures in PAS comes at the price of dismantling Pakatan before it can exact real political change by winning the next general election, said Lee.

"To have a conspiratorial plot to preserve power is indeed part and parcel of high level politics.

"No one is denying anyone the right to do that, but to use the pretence of doing God’s work on earth, to hang on to power, is sickeningly disturbing," he added.

Nik Amar a beneficiary?

Lee is one of the few DAP leaders who are willing to speculate on reasons behind PAS' renewed zeal for hudud. Another is DAP political education bureau head Liew Chin Tong.

In an article published in his blog on March 18, Liew opined that Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Nik Amar Nik Abdullah, one of the key spokespersons for the state government on hudud, has a lot to gain from the episode.

Liew said Nik Amar had to position himself against PAS vice-president Husam Musa, a fellow Kelantanese PAS leader who is seen by many as the protege of former PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat with a bright political future.

He also speculated that Nik Amar was likely seeking to contest against  Mohamad Sabu again in June for the PAS deputy presidency.

Liew also shared Nik Amar's dire predictions of PAS' future electoral performance to justify the need for the party to push for hudud.

"From the impression I got from his briefings at Pakatan meetings, he believes that the hudud enactment will save Kelantan PAS from electoral defeat.

"This means Nik Amar has no confidence that PAS can win the next general election," wrote the Kluang MP.

Both Liew and Lee have expressed concern at what they perceive to be a certain segment of PAS that is willing to forge greater cooperation with Umno and forsake Pakatan.

And without a united Pakatan, both men appear resigned to the fact that BN will not face any meaningful challenge in the next general election.

ADS