PAS will separate the country's racial groups by the legal divide envisioned in its Islamic State document, says MCA vice-president Dr Fong Chan Onn.

"PAS wants to segregate the Muslims from the non-Muslims and this was made official in the document. I think this is going to be detrimental to the country," he told reporters last night after attending a MCA 54th anniversary dinner in Dungun, Terengganu.

According to the Bernama report, Fong also said that the application of different laws for Muslims and non-Muslims was wrong and questioned the wisdom of seeking any change in the Barisan Nasional's system of power-sharing among its component parties.

"We feel that all people should come under the same law, why should we separate the law?

"Why should we change a tested and successful formula which is applicable and ideal for all races?" he added.

No theocracy

Despite scepticism to the contrary, PAS has claimed that in its vision of the Islamic state, which the party unveiled last Wednesday, there would be no room for either tyranny or theocracy.

"Theocracy has never been part and parcel of the Islamic political system since time immemorial. Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of Islamic history would testify to that," said party president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Furthermore, the practice of Syura or consultation would be maintained in the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, because PAS is determined to ensure consultation between the nation's leaders and its elected representatives in discharging legislative duties, Hadi added.

PAS' ally Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan), however, criticised the document as ''inappropriate and untimely'' in view of the upcoming general election.

Yesterday, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang attacked the blueprint and warned that it would ratchet up the Umno-PAS rivalry over Islam to new and unprecedented levels with grave consequences to Malaysia's pluralistic and secular fabric.