Barisan Alternatif's pledge to affirm Islam as a way of life should not be interpreted as a pledge to set up an Islamic state, leaders of two parties in the coalition said today.

Keadilan and PRM said in a joint statement that while the BA manifesto does proclaim to create an Islamic way of life among Muslims, it also pledges to guarantee the rights of non-Muslims to practise their respective religions and beliefs.

"It is plainly clear that this affirmation of Islam as a way of life ( ad-deen ) relates to Muslims alone and will not be imposed on non-Muslims.

"This is consistent with the teachings of Islam that there is no compulsion in religion," said Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali in the statement.

The statement appeared to be directed to the other two partners in the opposition coalition - DAP and PAS - both of whom are currently bickering over the Islamic state issue.

Worried by the loss of support from its traditional Chinese voters, DAP is seeking a guarantee that PAS is wholly committed to the BA manifesto.

Adhere to the Constitution

Wan Azizah and Syed Husin said that the opposition coalition upheld the principle of religious freedom as embodied in Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution.

"We wish to state the firm commitment of the BA parties to the main principles of the Federal Constitution and that we will always protect the basic freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.

Should the coalition in the future govern the country, they added, the component parties would not agree to any attempts made by any member party to amend the Constitution in order to establish an Islamic state.

"All parties in BA have agreed not to amend the nature of the Malaysian state without the support of two-thirds of the Malaysian people, through a referendum," the presidents stressed.

In the context of the prevailing electoral system and voter profile, no party, on its own, can acquire a two-third majority in Parliament to amend the Constitution, they added.

Therefore, they said, BA components parties have little choice but to stick with to its manifesto as a common platform for elections to come.

Common manifesto

They emphasised that BA's struggle was based on its common manifesto and not on the demands of its respective component parties.

"We respect the right of each party or individual to subscribe to their own ideology or long-term political objectives; at the same time we respect the right of parties and individuals to express differing opinions.

"However, we also believe, that, for the present moment, the BA common manifesto 'Towards A Just Malaysia' which all parties agreed to before the 1999 general elections, still represents a good and strong basis for increasing cooperation and strengthening unity among the BA parties," they said.