Competition between PAS and UMNO to establish an Islamic State the greatest threat in 44 years to the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and “social contract” of Malaysia as a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic State

(Penang,  Sunday):  In response to the challenge by the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad last year when announcing the UMNO position  that Malaysia was an Islamic State, PAS President, Datuk Fadzil Noor announced at the 48^th PAS Annual General Assembly in Kota Baru on Friday  seven principles of the PAS model of an Islamic State - civil society (madani), equality (Al-Musaawah), sovereignty of law based on Shariah law, justice (Al Adalah), meritocracy (As-Solahiyah), welfare state, and innovative and dynamic government – which would involve amendments to the current law and the Malaysian Constitution. 

Fadzil said PAS’  memorandum entitled “The Model of Islamic Government in the 21^st Century” is in the final process of completion and would be made public before the next general election. 

PAS spiritual leader and Kelantan Mentri Besar, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Mat had described Mahathir’s declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state as a “drama” though he admitted that it was a new challenge to PAS in wanting to spread its influence among the Muslims in the country. 

After Mahathir had announced Malaysia as an Islamic State, the government sent a delegation headed by Tan Sri Harun Hashim, former Federal Court judge,  a professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia and Deputy Suhakam Chairman on a tour of  four Middle Eastern countries to study various aspects of the syariah law and its implementation, viz  the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and  Saudi Arabia. 

Last month, we saw the fruit of this tour when Harun made two startling statements:

• Firstly that the first part of Article 3 of the Federal Constitution which provides that “Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation” means “that Islam is the religion of the state which makes Malaysia an Islamic state”; and 

• that “To dispel any doubts that Malaysia is an Islamic state, Article 4 of the Constitution should be amended to finally declare that the sources of the laws of the Federation are the Quran and the Sunnah” although he adds the rider that “Such a declaration will not derogate from the provision that the  Constitution is the supreme law of the Federation”.

The competition between PAS and UMNO to establish an Islamic State is  the greatest threat in 44 years to the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and “social contract” of Malaysia as a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic State.  

I had warned after the November 30, 1999 general election that Malaysia was set for a very uncertain and perilous future. 

I had said a day after the 1999 general election:

“With UMNO losing two state governments and 27 Parliamentary seats to PAS, and with many seats won by UMNO with very small majorities, UMNO will be under great pressure to respond to the PAS challenge and to try to win back the Malay heartland by competing with PAS on the Islamic terrain with Islamisation policies.

“With the DAP marginalised in Parliament and Malaysian politics as a result of yesterday’s polls, and with MCA, Gerakan and MIC  never able to exercise any check and balance on UMNO political hegemony, Malaysia is headed for a  very uncertain and perilous future.”

My worst fears have been confirmed, for UMNO has not just entered into the Islamic terrain to compete with PAS on Islamisation policies, but has gone all the way to compete with PAS as to whose Islamic State concept has more legitimacy  - which willy-nilly, has the double and seemingly contradictory effect of hardening each party’s position and  narrowing  the gap between the them on the Islamic state issue.

The DAP’s position on Islamic state is clear and unequivocal, as well as why the DAP decided to leave the Barisan Alternative – as PAS had gone beyond the Barisan Alternative common manifesto for a Just Malaysia to restore justice, freedom, democracy and good governance to advocate an Islamic State which  is not  compatible with parliamentary democracy and power-sharing in a plural society, human rights and individual freedoms, women’s rights and social tolerance,  making it quite  impossible to convince voters that a vote for BA is not a vote for an Islamic State.

This is why Mahathir has decided on the political gambit of exploiting the world-wide September 11 phobia to stampede non-Muslim Malaysians into supporting his declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state  by making a choice between what is generally regarded as an extremist form of Islamic state as advocated by PAS and the moderate Islamic state represented by UMNO.

This is a great   political fallacy, for the critical issue before Malaysians is not to choose between the Islamic State of PAS and  the Islamic State of UMNO, but whether Malaysians want to jettison the 44-year 1957 Merdeka Constitution and “social contract” of our forefathers from the major communities and reaffirmed by the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak that Malaysia is a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic state or embark Malaysia on the irreversible  road of an Islamic state, whether ala-UMNO or ala-PAS.

If the Malaysian voters, and in particular the non-Muslims, believe in the next general election expected in less than 12 months that the decision they have to make is to choose between  the Islamic State of PAS and  the Islamic State of UMNO, the overwhelming majority would vote for the latter. 

But this will be a great mistake – for the choice before Malaysians is not whose Islamic state to support, UMNO or PAS, but whether the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and “social contract”  that Islam is the official religion but Malaysia is not an Islamic state should be preserved or abandoned.  This is why the DAP has launched the “No to 911, No to 929, Yes to 1957”  people’s awareness campaign in Penang early last month for voters to say loud and clear that they neither want PAS’ Islamic State nor UMNO’s Islamic State but wish  to preserve the 1957 Merdeka  Constitution and “social contract” of Malaysia as a democratic, morality-based, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive nation.

Although the DAP and PAS have fundamental differences over the Islamic State issue, this should not prevent the DAP from co-operating with Barisan Alternative for the elusive goal to break the political hegemony of the Barisan Nasional by depriving its two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time in Malaysian electoral history.

Whatever Barisan Alternative leaders may claim, the possibility of the Barisan Nasional being toppled in the next general election is even slimmer than in the 1999 general election – especially in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States which had been a boon for incumbent governments worldwide.

However, the elusive goal of denying the Barisan Nasional of its two-thirds parliamentary majority is still within reach, provided there is  Opposition co-operation  on the basis of an electoral understanding to avoid split Opposition votes.

Without such an electoral understanding, the goal of breaking the political hegemony of the Barisan Nasional by depriving its two-thirds parliamentary majority will remain equally elusive in the next general election.

The stark choice before the people of Malaysia in the next general election is not whether to topple the Barisan Nasional government – which might be feasible in the general election after next in 2008 – but to create political history by attaining the elusive goal to deny its two-thirds majority, which is only possible if an Opposition electoral understanding could be reached  to ensure a one-to-one fight between the Barisan Nasional and the Opposition in all the constituencies in the country.

DAP had right from the beginning since our pull-out from the Barisan Alternative on September 22 last year  made clear our preparedness for an electoral understanding with the  Barisan Alternative in pursuit of the elusive goal of breaking the political hegemony and two-thirds parliamentary majority of the Barisan Nasional – and we are ready to immediately start discussions towards this end. 

(2/6/2002)