(Malaysiakini) - Deputy PAS Youth chief Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz wants the DAP father-son pair, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, to state the party's official stance on hudud.
Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia today front-paged this call, which it said was made by Nik Mohamad, who is the son of PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.
Nik Mohamad said such a clarification from the father and son would be very important to correct the people's perception following the vehement rejection of the Islamic penal code by DAP chairperson Karpal Singh.
The top DAP leadership, he is quoted as saying, should advise Karpal to stop making statements on the hudud as this would affect the relationship among the component parties in Pakatan Rakyat.
"We request DAP leaders (either Kit Siang or Guan Eng) to make a statement, so that the people will know that DAP rejects Karpal's statement, and most importantly, many will know that DAP protects the relationship in Pakatan.
"I agree with PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan's statement that Karpal's remark could create the assumption that DAP does not protect and care about Malay voters. It is not true because there is no party that does not want votes.
"DAP must advise Karpal, just like how PAS did when PAS leaders made statements against the spirit of the coalition. They have advised (former Selangor PAS commissioner) Hasan Ali and former deputy president) Nasharuddin Mat Isa," he is quoted as saying.
'Will not affect PAS-DAP relationship'
Yesterday Nik Mohamad told another Umno-linked Malay daily, Berita Harian, that Karpal's ongoing criticism against hudud would cause PAS to lose Malay votes in the next general election.
However, his father Nik Aziz, who is also Kelantan menteri besar, said Karpal's statement against hudud would not affect the PAS-DAP relationship.
"The question of disunity does not arise because we don't face any problem now. This issue was only exaggerated to create confusion," Nik Aziz is quoted as saying by another Malay daily, Sinar Harian.
PAS central committee member and Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad told the daily that although implementation of hudud is part of the Islamic party's struggle, it could not be implemented as long as the people did not understand or accepted hudud.
Dzulkefly said it was not the conducive time to implement hudud now because it needed open discussion and involved many legal processes.
"In addition, many things need to be carried out and all parties should understand it. The effort to instill the understanding of hudud cannot be limited to certain groups. It should include all quarters so that nobody will be confused," said the academician-turned-politician who is seen as one of the progressive leaders in the Islamic party.
It's PAS which should explain
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Najib Razak’s political secretary Mohamad Fatmi Che Salleh said it was PAS that should issue a statement on its stand on the 'hudud' law, not the DAP.
According to Bernama, Mohamad Fatmi, who is also the Kota Bharu Umno division head, said that PAS, as a party that champions Islam in the opposition pact, must be firm on its stand to implement the hudud law although the DAP disagreed on its implementation.
"What is important today, PAS must make a stand, not the DAP. Malaysians had already known from the start that the DAP was against an Islamic state, and rejects hudud.
"The mistake was why PAS had accepted the DAP," he told reporters when met at the Open House organised by the Kota Baharu Umno division today.
Mohamad Fatmi said PAS should also make a stand whether it wanted to remain in the opposition pact after their statements on the setting up of an Islamic state appeared to be rejected by the DAP.