PAS flayed for confusing stand on Islamic state and Malay unity
Despite claiming that Malaysia was a secular state, Syed Azman Syed Ahmad (PAS-Terengganu) when proposing a resolution to debate America's war on Afghanistan told the House on Oct 10 that Malaysia was indeed an Islamic state.
Ruhanie Ahmad (BN-Parit Sulong) then challenged PAS president Fadzil Noor to take action on Syed Azman for agreeing with Umno and BN on Malaysia being an Islamic state, as declared by the prime minister recently.
"If the opposition leader does not deny the statement by the MP for Kuala Terengganu, this would mean that PAS has acknowledged Malaysia as an Islamic state," said Ruhanie.
"The MP's statement arose out of his subconscious mind but because he is a PAS MP, he has to say that Malaysia is not an Islamic state," he added.
Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) told the House that PAS has no issue to raise except that of the Islamic state to rally for support from the Malays.
Raja Ahmad Zainuddin (BN-Larut) accused PAS of always inciting the people's sentiments to go against Umno whenever its leaders speak about the Islamic state or Malay unity.
'Militancy'
Noh Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang) said that whenever Umno leaders speak about an issue, it would be blown out of proportion by PAS.
However, he added that when PAS leaders contradict each other when speaking about Islamic state and Malay unity, the matter was never raised by PAS MPs.
Amihamzah Ahmad (BN-Lipis) urged PAS to assess itself before criticising others while Mastika Junaidah Husin (BN-Arau) said that as a woman, she feared PAS' alleged link to militant groups.
She said she witnessed such "militancy" at the Lunas by-election in November last year when the public was "brave enough to overpower even the police".
On polling day, groups arriving at Lunas on a few buses were blocked by opposition supporters and 'escorted' to the police station under suspicion of being phantom voters.
Husam Musa (PAS-Kubang Kerian), however, urged Ruhanie to look at the auditor-general's audit for last year and to concede that there were examples of discrimination in policies based on political affiliations.
"How can such discrimination bring about unity?" Husam queried.
Umno not united
Kamaruddin Jaafar (PAS-Tumpat) said he supported Ruhanie's call on Malay unity but added that it was Umno which was not united from the beginning as he (Kamaruddin) was an ex-Umno member and had witnessed the intra-party fights.
Kamaruddin said differences in opinion between Umno and PAS were normal in politics.
He also said he could not understand why Umno was against PAS' support for Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Ruhanie said he was not sure how long PAS would politicise the Islamic state issue despite the fact that it was confusing the rakyat.
This confusion, he said, has led to a certain Islamic group in the country to "hate, and become enemies with, Umno and the BN government".
"What is more serious is that these sentiments of Muslims against Muslims incited by PAS have given rise to what we now call the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia [sic] who wants to set up an Islamic state by toppling the present government through violence," he added.
