Pakatan Rakyat should make a collective stance on the hudud issue as it can no longer sweep it under the carpet on the pretext of “agreeing to disagree”, said political scientist Wong Chin Huat.

 

He suggested that the coalition partners enact a 10-year moratorium on pushing the hudud agenda.

 

“In the ten years, there should be no changes to the legal system and the ninth schedule of the Federal Constitution […] There should be no transfer of jurisdiction over the administration of justice from the federal list to the concurrent list.

 

“In the ten years, the existing syariah courts shall not touch hudud,” Wong ( photo ) told a forum last night.

 

The Chinese-language forum themed “Malaysia after muktamar” was organised by the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall’s (KLSCAH) civil liberties committee, and was attended by about 70 people.

 

Other speakers were political observer Lim Hong Siang and former PKR deputy treasurer Low Chee Chong, while KLSCAH civil rights committee member Lam Choong Wah was the moderator.

 

Wong added Pakatan has deliberately been coy on the hudud issue to minimise their differences on it. It also was focused on taking over Putrajaya, with PAS rebranding itself with its welfare state agenda while DAP chanted “Malaysians first” instead of “Malaysia for Malaysians” in its slogans.

 

However, none of these have resolved those differences, which sparked political turmoil amid this year’s PAS party election.

 

Temporary alliance

Wong said if Pakatan is to maintain control of Selangor, it should give up on the idea of being a permanent coalition and use a temporary tripartite alliance as basis for cooperation.

 

Comparing the Selangor government to a marriage, he said this is akin to abandoning the dream of “till death do us part”.

 

“Between DAP and PAS, there is now no longer any love or trust. (They) want a divorce.

 

“But everyone has hopes on Pakatan and thinks Pakatan is still a marriage – a marriage that is long-lasting, with love and common aspirations. Such noble things. If you talk (about Pakatan breakup) everyone will be heartbroken.

 

“So make it clear: What was there will remain there, but don’t talk about everlasting love anymore,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

 

Expanding his marriage analogy, Wong said the Selangor government needs to be “downgraded” from being a marriage to a co-habitation, and needs a written agreement spelling out the areas where the three parties would or would not cooperate.

 

This way, Pakatan will be able to keep the Selangor government running until the next general election, where it can re-examine the terms and methods of its cooperation.

 

The Selangor state assembly has 56 seats, with control over 29 seats required to form the government. PKR now controls 13 seats, PAS and DAP have 15 seats each, BN has 12 seats, while the independent assemblyperson Khalid Ibrahim has one seat.

 

The fallout between DAP and PAS has put the Pakatan’s control of the state in jeopardy, with both sides forcing PKR in a situation where it has to side with one party or another.

 

On another matter, Wong said of the two factions in PAS, the one that is now pursuing the hudud issue is doing so for the sake of their afterlife ( akhirat ) and earning rewards therein ( pahala ).

 

However, he said the other faction that has been branded as progressives are not progressives at all, but are in fact realists.

 

“The realists are arguing that staying in Pakatan would help bring it votes and electoral seats in the next election. A true progressive would have said Pakatan would bring more pahala than implementing hudud […] Do you see them saying that? No, so there are only realists, not progressives,” he said.

 

He said PAS is structured as a religious political party, while the Islamic world places a heavy emphasis on the rewards in the afterlife.

 

They believe that chasing worldly pursuits would come at the expense of the afterlife, but securing a good afterlife would bring blessings in the currently life, he said.

 

As such, he said the hudud agenda is compelling to Muslims because they believe the pahala earned through winning elections is less than those earned from pushing hudud.