It is "not necessary" to declare that it is 'haram' (forbidden) for Muslims to support DAP, as this is merely about differences of opinion in politics, Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah says.

saifuddin abdullah evidence act forum 2 "This is not about what is permissible and non-permissible, as in criminal offences. This is only politics.

"If we don't agree, we can always use our persuasive power to defuse, to rebut, or to bring forward our ideas," Saifuddin told reporters today.

The Temerloh MP was commenting on Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia's front page stories on Wednesday and Thursday , in which it quoted several Islamic scholars as saying that it is haram to support DAP because of its supposed anti-Islam stance.

He was speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, after serving as a panellist on the Bar Council’s forum on the recent amendments to the Evidence Act.

On a separate matter, Saifuddin also appealed to the 26 Bersih-linked NGOs to drop their plan to hold an alternative countdown to the Merdeka Day celebration at a place adjacent to the venue of the official celebration.

The group comprising some of the 80 NGOs that form the Bersih coalition and a number of groups that are not in the coalition is led by its Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson A Samad Said.

NONE It’s objective, poet Samad said, is to “remind” the government of its unfulfilled promise of ensuring clean and fair elections in the country.

Asked to comment on this, Saifuddin said: “My plea is: Not at Dataran Merdeka at that particular time, because the mood is on independence.

“We all know what it (the Merdeka celebrations) will be like, because (the morning after), very early in the morning, there will be a parade.”

His statement, he made it clear, should not be construed as an endorsement for the NGOs to hold their alternate countdown elsewhere.

“I am not saying that you can do it at some other place or at some other time. But at least not at Dataran Merdeka on the eve of Merdeka,” he said.