Dr Haron Din of PAS recently said: ‘PAS will implement hudud once the party takes control of the central government and Nik Aziz remarked that Pakatan Rakyat will eventually accept the Islamic ideology.

To its credit, PAS has been consistent, if not correct, in its position that Islam will have no traction or relevance without the Sharia, its legal code, and that the code is incomplete without the ‘hudud’.

Although the MCA appears to be the only party to openly castigate PAS, when juxtaposed with the prime minister’s call to ‘make mosques a place for everyone irrespective of ideology or political belief and that we should not be harsh and always talk about the punishment for committing a sin’, it is becoming increasing clear where the real bone of contention lies, in particular for those who voted the Pakatan Rakyat to their unprecedented win.

While PKR and DAP are busy deliberating the prospect of forming the federal government, it is rhetorical to ask if they realise that their partner, who once said they would have no justification to exist if Malaysia was truly Islamic, has now five beachheads in Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor.

In essence, PKR and DAP have unwittingly taken on board a partner not designed to reverse and to allay fears amongst our multi-religious and multi-ethnic fabric, they should set aside partisanship and openly castigate their ‘offending’ partner, isolate them if necessary, for attempting to betray the trust of the non-Muslims and moderates who voted them in.