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PAS, the minor party in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition recently pushed for the Hudud to be implemented in the event the opposition were to win the next General Elections in Malaysia. The outright rejection both by the UMNO and the Pakatan Rakyat parties shows that Malaysia is not ready for the Hudud.Is The Pakatan’s Future In Balance Over Hudud? In this analysis, we discuss what will the PAS do about Hudud in the event Pakatan wins the PRU13! Click to read the full story
Is The Pakatan’s Future In Balance Over Hudud? In this analysis, we discuss what will the PAS do about Hudud in the event Pakatan wins the PRU13!
PAS, the minor party in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition recently pushed for the Hudud to be implemented in the event the opposition were to win the next General Elections in Malaysia. The outright rejection both by the UMNO and the Pakatan Rakyat parties shows that Malaysia is not ready for the Hudud.
The PAS leaders’ comments on the hudud or Shariah laws and the Islamic state agenda had re- ignited the debate within the PR with DAP leaders, particularly its chairman Karpal Singh who opposed the idea. For now, this seems settled but the issue remains a deadly one for the future of the PR.
Some PAS leaders are said to be in favor of forging a pact with the ruling coalition if the UMNO would support an Islamic state should the PKR and DAP disprove of it. While these PAS members feel it is necessary to use the PR platform to jump side when the time is appropriate, the rash UMNO response to the Hudud issue has totally sunk the PAS boat on the matter.
Hadi Awang, victim of the UMNO-PAS secret talks after it was blown out wide open in public after the 2008 massive push forward by the Pakatan Rakyat in the General Elections (GE), seemed to be making his final push in favor of the Hudud. Or is it his final push to revive the Umno-PAS talks? Whatever it was, the path to the Hudud implementation in Malaysia has always been littered with political machinations and this is not further from the truth.
During the talks with the Umno on the formation of a so called ‘Islamic’ government with the Umno and the PAS as the main parties in the new coalition within the Barisan National (BN), it was question of the repeal of the ISA, the freeing of the press and the implementation of the Hudud. Now that the press has been freed (the registration part that is) and the ISA repealed and replaced with new laws, there was only the Hudud left for UMNO to accommodate the PAS.
Lately, Hadi Awang said Hudud will be implemented if Pakatan comes to power. He added it will only be for Muslims, while non-Muslims will be given an option whether they want to be subjected to the law. The PAS President added that this issue was discussed in the 1970?s with the Umno when the PAS was a coalition partner with the BN. And this is where the hook is supposed to be hitting, that is within’s Umno’s reach.
Both the PR and the UMNO, as mentioned earlier, rejected the idea but it is suspected that the idea of implementing Hudud on a lower scale, not on a national scale, could resurface once the PRU13 is done and dusted with. And this is where the real danger lies for a future PR regime. PAS is still partially hoping to implement the Hudud despite the very fact that it will not get a majority in the forthcoming Parliament. Yet if that was so true, then why would Haji Awang throw the Hudud bait into the already much heated pre-electoral campaign? Perhaps the PAS members who are in favor of the Hudud implementation at all cost are also hoping they will be able to get the support from other Muslim members of the Parliament in the next seatings of the Parliament? Will this then spill into fresh ‘muzakarah’ that will bring Umno and PAS together as many Umno members are claiming should have happened by now?
And where will all this claim for the implementation of the Hudud bring the PR coalition with its shaky alliance in power, if ever they were to win Putrajaya?
Hadi’s move though cornered by both the PR leaders and the Umno, is a potential threat to the cognizance within the PR. The worst is the PAS will threaten leaving the coalition and joining the opposition on the Hudud issue after a PR victory in the PRU13. At best, the PR will have to accept that the Hudud be implemented in PAS ruled states and that would be Kelantan, Kedah and Terengganu as they are expected to gain stronger support in these states.
However, the best of scenarios for the PR will probably mean its doom altogether since the DAP, adamant that the Hudud is an irrelevant issue, may then threaten to leave the loose coalition, leaving the PKR and the PAS to sort it out at Putrajaya.
Does that mean the PR will then be joined by a weakened and beaten Umno in a wider coalition that will be supported by Muslims in their majority? Will this then mean the minorities in the country will be pushed into the opposition, unwillingly and unceremoniously if the DAP would choose to bang the door emotionally over the Hudud?
The Hudud, despised by the DAP, could be catastrophic for the majority Chinese party in the end whereas the much sought ‘Islamic’ alliance could be in the making if the DAP were to make the wrong move on the thorny subject.
Hence, what is the solution to the problem?
The fact of reminding the Pakatan that Hudud will have to be implemented if the PR comes to power after the upcoming GE13, is a sign that Hadi Awang is playing his very last wild card. The reminder that Hudud is an electoral card for the PAS or at least for some of its members, is also a turning point for Hadi Awang. The latter, formerly Menteri Besar of Terengganu, has indicated he will not struggle for the job this coming polls but will focus on his role as a member of the national Parliament if he is elected once again. His abandoning the quest for the post of MB is indicative that he is moving on to higher echelons within the PAS after the elections. Yet his throwing of the Hudud issue in the midst of a storm created by the Bersih violence is indicative of a reminder to Umno in particular.
Nevertheless, the Umno, probably lacking in tact and confused with the recent blues it suffered on the national scene, in fact issued a veiled statement on its Umno-online.com website. It indicated that the raising of the issue of the Hudud by Hadi Awang is a lost cause since ‘the PAS, being a small party without a majority in the Parliament, would never be able to carry out such a ‘dream’ cause’. This may have spilled the plug for Hadi Awang since without an opening of the door by the Umno on the issue, again, the pro-Umno PAS men were doomed and the Hudud issue was to be closed. And it is exactly what happened after the PR meeting on the issue and it was declared that the Hudud was not a priority of the PR. Once again, it was a defeat for Hadi Awang. But for how long?
Hadi’s need to sound the glass to the Umno is reminiscent of the days when some PAS members were busy negotiating deals with the Umno after the 2008 polls. The PAS had enough MP’s to cross over and give the Umno a 2/3rd majority that it lost in the polls. The fresh statement by Hadi is to remind the Umno that there are members of the PAS who would probably join the BN if Umno were to at least hint on the Hudud. Will the latter party come to the conclusion that to save the BN and the Umno this time around, perhaps the Hudud could be the ultimate wild card and should be taken seriously?
In the event the Umno were to take this bait thrown by Hadi Awang, it will mean that attempts are being made to get a larger number of Malays-Muslims to swing towards the Umno-PAS in the GE13. And this means while the Umno is in power and the PAS in opposition, they should get more Malay support in the next General Elections. And why is that important for both parties?
It will surely mean a better chance for the Umno-BN to get more Malay votes and for the PAS to elect more Parliamentary candidates. It is certain that the Umno-BN coalition’s popularity has been slipping even among Malay-Muslim voters and this is probably due to the rise of the PR as well as the botched policies by the BN. Nevertheless, if the implementation or a simple hint at its implementation (the Hudud) is given by the Umno it might simply mean a re-start of the pro-Umno PAS members dialogue with the Umno. The dialogue has not been killed for certain but it is not in the limelight and it is not public anymore after Nik Aziz’s bicycle kick on the Muzakarah. And one way for Hadi Awang to gain back his control over the PAS machinery is to get a better, fairer deal from its partners in the PR or from the Umno on the Hudud in the future!
Hadi Awang’s initial idea of relinquishing of his potential as MB of Terengganu and his need to focus on being an MP alone took shape after the collapse of the ‘official’ talks between the PAS and Umno. These talks were being led in the back of a majority of the PAS leadership, including that of Kelantan MB Nik Aziz Nik Mat, and once it was made public the pro-Umno proponents within the PAS faced a hard time with the party’s leadership and grass-root.
In the meantime, the numerous scandals that has hit the PR – in particular the Party Keadilaan
Rakyat (PKR) has dampened the enthusiasm of many PAS members. This is a reality that Hadi Awang is well aware of and he is being pushed by many supporters too, to give a final chance to the PAS-Umno talks. And it is in this conjuncture that he threw the Hudud once again in the middle of the political battles and right at the door step of the GE13.
This is very significant indeed
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