Pas will campaign for hudud selectively?

KUALA LUMPUR: Pas Selangor deputy commissioner Khalid Samad said Pas has not given up on its plans to implement hudud and reserves the right to campaign for the Islamic penal code in States where Pas holds the majority.

Speaking to The Mole, Khalid said: “Although the Pakatan Rakyat leadership has reached a decision that the hudud is not in the the coalition's agenda, this does not mean the idea of implementing the law has been dropped altogether by Pakatan.’’

Pakatan leaders, including its Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, was reported as having pledged to stick to the coalition's Sept 28, 2011 decision in which hudud will not be a part its agenda until DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat agree to its implementation.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was reported to have said, “we are still tied to Sept 28, where our priority is the economy and any changes are tied to the Federal constitution and policies. So we have not changed our stand.’’

Khalid who is Shah Alam MP said he did not disagree with Anwar stating, ‘’there are many different policies by Pas, DAP and PKR that is agreed and disagreed by the coalition, however all that matters is championing Pakatan Rakyat’s main policies.’’

Prior to this, Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and Dewan Ulama chief Datuk Harun Taib in another news report sparked controversy after stating hudud will be implemented if Pakatan came to power which prompted DAP’s chairman Karpal Singh to oppose, stating the issue had not  been discussed by the three-party coalition.

Karpal had then called for an urgent meeting between coalition leaders to decide the hudud issue “once and for all’’.

Khalid who has been quite vocal on his stand to implement hudud in the country responded to Karpal’s statement  stating, “I think he (Karpal) meant the implementation of the law at federal level, there is no way Pas will implement hudud in the name of Pakatan.’’

Khalid maintained if hudud were to be implemented it will only be in Pas majority states where the people can decide whether they want to embrace the law or otherwsie.

He also stressed the law will not be forced upon the people and is convinced Pakatan will not break up because of the hudud controversy.

A blog post in minda-hijrah wrote that each time the general election is around the corner, Abdul Hadi without fail will bring up the issue.

Another post in mysuara.net critised the Pas president for raising the issue of hudud after deciding at the party’s muktamar (general assembly) last year that the party was giving up its Islamic state agenda in favour of a welfare state.

The blogger stated such a move by Pas showed the party’s inconsistencies.

Source: MOLE