Barisan Alternative presidential council should learn from the results of the Pendang and Anak Bukit by-election results and swiftly and fully return to the 1999 Barisan Alternative Common Manifesto – which implicitly excluded an Islamic state or any hudud and qisas enactment - before it is too late


Media Statement 
by Lim Kit Siang

(Penang, Saturday) Acting PAS President and Terengganu Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang was right when he said that PAS’ failure to secure the Chinese votes is the cause of its defeat in Pendang and the reduced majority in Anak Bukit, but wrong when he said  this was because PAS had failed to attract Chinese voters to attend its ceramah during the campaigning period in both the constituencies. 

The reason why PAS had failed to attract the support of the Chinese voters in the Pendang and Anak Bukit by-elections was not because the Chinese voters  did not attend PAS ceramahs, but solely because of the hasty and ill-considerred enactment of the Terengganu Syariah Criminal Offences (Hudud and Qisas) Bill  by the PAS-controlled  Terengganu State Assembly two days before the nominations of the two Kedah by-elections. 

No number of PAS ceramahs can counter or erase the six objections to the hudud and qisas bill rushed through by the Pas Terengganu state government, namely that it is:

It is not just PAS but the entire Barisan Alternative which must swiftly and fully return to the 1999 Barisan Alternative Common Manifesto “Towards A Just Malaysia” – which implicitly excluded an Islamic state or  any hudud and qisas enactment – as it is not PAS alone which will lose Chinese, non-Malay and non-Muslim as well as liberal Malay support, Parti Keadilan Nasional will be an even greater casualty in forfeiting Chinese, non-Malay, non-Muslim as well as liberal Malay support for agreeing to the destruction of the BA Common Manifesto, the very basis for the establishment of the Barisan Alternative before the 1999 general election,  to restore justice, freedom, democracy and good governance. 

The BA Common Manifesto was inspired by the sufferings and injustices suffered by Anwar Ibrahim and other Malaysians -   and by allowing the BA Common Manifesto to be violated, it is tantamount to allowing the marginalization of the Anwar Ibrahim case. 

For this reason, the BA Presidential Council should meet urgently to show that it could learn from the lessons and results of the Pendang and Anak Bukit by-elections not only to return swiftly and fully to the 1999 BA Common Manifesto but also to restore the centrality of the Anwar Ibrahim issue before it is too late.

(20/7/2002)


*Lim Kit Siang - DAP National Chairman