PRM believes in religious freedom, rejects PAS Islamic state concept
Parti Rakyat Malaysia has rejected the idea of a theocratic state in multi-racial Malaysia because it believes in the concept of la ikraha fiddeen , meaning there is no force in religion.
PRM president Syed Husin Ali said a class of rulers who professes a religion cannot impose a system of governance based on their beliefs alone on a society which comprises people from other races, religion and culture.
He urged PAS who is bent on setting up a theocratic state, to guarantee immediately that if it comes to power with a two-third majority in parliament, it will not implement an Islamic state by force.
"They must implement the Barisan Alternatif's 1999 common manifesto and not set up an Islamic state by force. Instead they should obtain the approval of the people by way of a referendum," said the veteran politician.
"We believe that in any democratically elected government, the people must be guaranteed the freedom to practise their own religion," he added.
PRM president Syed Husin Ali said a class of rulers who professes a religion cannot impose a system of governance based on their beliefs alone on a society which comprises people from other races, religion and culture.
He urged PAS who is bent on setting up a theocratic state, to guarantee immediately that if it comes to power with a two-third majority in parliament, it will not implement an Islamic state by force.
"They must implement the Barisan Alternatif's 1999 common manifesto and not set up an Islamic state by force. Instead they should obtain the approval of the people by way of a referendum," said the veteran politician.
"We believe that in any democratically elected government, the people must be guaranteed the freedom to practise their own religion," he added.
Syed Husin was responding to PAS president Fadzil Noor's keynote address at the party's 48th annual general assembly or muktamar on Friday in Kelantan where the latter outlined the seven principles of PAS' version of an Islamic state.
The principles are a civil society, equality, sovereignty of law based on Islamic Syariah law and jurisprudence, a government aimed at achieving justice, meritocracy, a welfare state and a dynamic government.
The Islamic state issue has been an embarrassing point for BA for quite a while. Public bickering among component parties has also caused much uneasiness in the opposition grouping. DAP left BA last September over its vehement opposition to PAS' Islamic state concept .
Stop squabbling
In view of that, Syed Husin said other opposition leaders and those from BA — PAS and Keadilan — should immediately stop squabbling over the matter.
Public squabbling over issues like hudud laws and the status of women, he added, would tarnish the opposition's image and affect BA solidarity.
Syed Husin said different interpretations of the concept has arisen because the term Islamic state "is not clear".
He, however, welcomed the parliamentary opposition leader's recent explanation on the Islamic state concept.
He added that PRM was waiting for PAS' complete and final copy of a "memorandum" to be submitted to the BA presidential council.
The memorandum, he stressed, was PAS' stand on the issue and only after discussion with other BA component parties would a decision be made on whether to incorporate its basics into the common manifesto or design a new one.
