No consensus on hudud at Pakatan meeting as Kit Siang had disregarded Karpal Singh

No consensus on hudud at Pakatan meeting as Kit Siang had disregarded Karpal Singh

It is sad that DAP said nothing to oppose the religious extremism remarks made by their comrade-in-arms PAS regarding hudud law during the Pakatan senior leadership meeting yesterday

The meeting yesterday had failed to reach a consensus as Pakatan leaders tried to avoid the issue by giving unclear and token answers over the issue which did nothing to clear the people’s doubts.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who had attended represented DAP at the meeting, had only said at the press conference that hudud law was not part of the Pakatan Rakyat’s Buku Jingga manifesto. This proves that Lim Kit Siang had failed to strongly express his objections, or even Karpal’s views and the views of the other non-Muslim leaders in Pakatan, at the meeting. This has prevented the meeting from reaching a clear agreement on the issue, thus disappointing DAP and the public. 

If Lim Kit Siang does not have the courage or ability to express his party’s stand and the stand of other non-Muslims, then perhaps he should have instead sent DAP Chairman Karpal Singh to speak instead of wasting this opportunity. 

It is also disappointing that DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng has chosen to support PAS President Dato’ Seri Hadi Awang which seems like dismissing Karpal’s statement as his own personal views as used before. In defending his own interest, Guan Eng had chosen to support Hadi Awang over his own party’s chairman, showing that DAP senior leaders cannot be trusted as they will continue to allow PAS to walk over and dominate them, thus forsaking non-Muslims rights, as DAP has no status in Pakatan and is only a yes-man party to PAS.  

DAP, as one of the Pakatan allies, should not choose to remain silent or refrain from speaking out their support or opposition towards PAS. When members of their own party dare to speak out against other Pakatan leaders or PAS leaders, DAP will take various measures to deal with it such as taking disciplinary action, or dismissing contradicting statements a personal view, or even not re-appointing those members for any position. 

On the other hand, MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has already made our party’s position clear beforehand; that Malaysia is a multi-racial country, and the implementation of hudud laws is bound to affect non-Muslims.

Senator Chiew Lian Keng, JP
Chairman of MCA Youth Federal Territory