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There is dire need for Chinese and Indian minorities to join hands to survive in Malaysia. Read below.
Amputations & stoning: Malaysia govt backs Islamic penal law
Published time: 28 May, 2016 20:29Edited time: 28 May, 2016 20:57
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© Damir Sagolj / Reuters
Malaysia's ex-PM calls for 'people power' mass protests to topple govtThe bill, also referred to as “hudud law,” seeks to amend the Malaysian constitution, thus allowing Sharia penalties in Kelantan, a predominantly Muslim northern state, where nightclubs are banned and there are separate public benches for men and women.
If passed, the bill would open the possibility to other states to enact hudud laws and promote two parallel criminal justice systems with different penalties under secular and Sharia laws, Malaysian media suggested.Whereas the secular criminal code includes no corporal punishments, under Sharia laws, the courts would be empowered to order stoning or amputations.
Arguments for and against the introduction of Sharia law have divided Malaysia for years. Most of the states already implement the Islamic legal system, but its reach is restricted by secular federal laws.
The bill’s submission to parliament provoked criticism from other political leaders, including those who represent Chinese and Indian minorities.
Earlier in the day, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a key party in the ruling government’s coalition, called the move "unconstitutional." Liow Tiong Lai, leader of the MCA, Mah Siew Keong, president of Malaysian People's Movement Party have threatened to quit their cabinet positions if the bill were to be passed and implemented, according to New Straits Times.
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Sharia councils face inquiry into ‘discrimination against women’Prime Minister Najib sought to play the situation down, saying the bill was "misunderstood."
"It's not hudud, but what we refer to as enhanced punishment," he was quoted as saying by Reuters during a news conference after meeting leaders of his ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party.
"It applies only to certain offences and this comes under the jurisdiction of the Syariah [the Malay spelling of Sharia] court and is only applicable to the Muslims. It has nothing to do with non-Muslims," he insisted.
The prime minister also added that the punishments would be limited and canings meted out under the law “would not injure or draw blood.”
Malaysia has seen sporadic political turmoil since last August, when a massive anti-government rally involving tens of thousands of people demanded that PM Najib resign.
The protesters accused Najib of corruption after documents were leaked in July showing that he had received some $700 million from entities linked to an indebted state fund. He later claimed the money was a donation from the Middle East. Najib sacked several senior government officials and the attorney general investigating the allegations against him.
https://www.rt.com/news/344728-malaysia-sharia-law-bill/
Thousands rally in Malaysia to back Islamic penal code bill
Supporters attend a rally to support the adoption of a strict Islamic penal code at Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 18, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Tens of thousands of Malaysians rallied in the capital on Saturday to support the adoption of a strict Islamic penal code, a proposal religious minorities fear could infringe their rights.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has thrown his weight behind the contentious bill, which seeks to incorporate parts of the Islamic penal code, or "hudud", into Malaysia's existing Islamic legal system.
Najib, who is currently embroiled in a corruption scandal, is hoping to burnish his Islamic credentials in order to boost his chances in national elections that must be held by August 2018.
Critics of the bill warn that it could pave the way for full implementation of hudud, which prescribes punishments such as amputations and stoning, and disrupt the fabric of Malaysia's multi-cultural and multi-religious society.
"The so-called 'empowerment' of the Shariah Court will only exacerbate the unequal treatment of Muslims and non-Muslims before the law," said Bebas, an NGO that organised a smaller counter-rally.
No official figures were available on how many people attended Saturday's peaceful support rally in Kuala Lumpur, but estimates were in the tens of thousands.
Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, deputy president of the hardline Islamist opposition Parti Islam-se Malaysia (PAS), one of its organisers, said 100,000 people were expected to attend.
The PAS presented the bill in parliament last year but later withdrew it in order to fine tune the legislation. It is now expected to be reintroduced in the next parliamentary session, in March.
Najib, who has resisted calls to resign over a scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), where he was an adviser, backed the bill despite the anger of members of his own United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) ruling coalition.
Lawsuits filed by the U.S. Justice Department in July last year said nearly $700 million of the misappropriated funds from 1MDB flowed into the accounts of "Malaysian Official 1", who U.S. and Malaysian officials have identified as Najib.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing.
Presidents of three parties representing the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups in Najib's ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition have threatened to quit their cabinet posts if the bill passes.
For decades, PAS has been pushing for Malaysia to adopt hudud in the northeastern state of Kelantan that is governed by the party, arguing that it is the responsibility of the country's Malay-Muslim majority to support Islamic law.
Criminal cases are currently handled by federal law in Malaysia, where Malay Muslims account for more than 60 percent of the 30 million population.
The Shariah courts come under the jurisdiction of each state and are limited to family law covering issues such as divorce and inheritance.
Supporters of the legal reform said Saturday's rally also aimed to allay the fears of minority groups.
Ismail Borhan, 33, an engineer who attended the rally, said the objective of the bill was to allow commensurate action that can act as a deterrent to wrongdoing.
"Those opposed to the bill have a lack of understanding and exposure (to Islam), simply opposing for the sake of opposing," he said.
(Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Writing by Praveen Menon; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Helen Popper)
http://www.reuters.com/article/malaysia-politics-hudud-idUSKBN15X0D5
HOW ONE ISLAMIST PARTY COULD SWAY MALAYSIA’S ELECTION
Supporters of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party rally at Darul Aman Stadium in…
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MALAYSIA 1MDB SCANDAL
HOW ONE ISLAMIST PARTY COULD SWAY MALAYSIA’S ELECTION
The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party finds itself courted by former friends and foes, including Mahathir Mohamad and Prime Minister Najib Razak, as it emerges as a potentially deciding force in an upcoming national election
BY SHERIDAN MAHAVERA
18 FEB 2017
Supporters of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party at a protest against an electoral system seen as favourable to the Barisan Nasional. Photo: AFP
Malaysia’s biggest Islamist party, long a whipping post for the country’s liberals, is finding itself newly popular with former rivals and estranged allies as it emerges as a potential kingmaker in upcoming general elections.
Due to its hardline brand of Islam, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) has traditionally had an uneasy relationship with the country’s non-Muslim communities, such as the ethnic Chinese and Indians, but the deep influence it has enjoyed with the majority Malay community since it was founded in 1951 could make it a deciding force in the national polls, widely expected this year.
Rural Malay seats are likely to be the key battleground in those polls, in which two coalition parties – the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) and the Pakatan Harapan (Hope Coalition) – will be the main contenders.
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Leaders of both coalitions are working behind the scenes to curry favour with the PAS, as the Islamist party gears up for a rally this weekend in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in a show of strength to convince the public it is still an influential political player.
The PAS left the Hope Coalition in 2015 and became independent after a fellow coalition member, the secular Democratic Action Party, protested against its campaign to introduce a Muslim penal code called hudud. A senior leader of the Democratic Action Party – which is popular with ethnic Chinese voters – recently signalled a willingness to mend ties with the PAS, while former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, long known for his criticisms of the PAS’ ultra-conservatism, has also appeared to change tack.
Mahathir’s party, the Malaysian Indigenous People’s Party, or Bersatu, is allied to the Hope Coalition and is now leading negotiations for an electoral pact with PAS in an effort to oust the National Front and its scandal-tainted chairman, Prime Minister Najib Razak. But Najib, too, is thought to be working behind the scenes to influence the PAS, leading to questions over where its loyalties lie.
Malaysia’s ringgit rout raises spectres of 1998 Asian Financial Crisis
Will the PAS side with its estranged former allies in the Hope Coalition? Or will it go it alone in the elections, splitting support for the opposition and thereby helping keep Najib in power?
A reconciliation with the Hope Coalition might prove difficult. The 2015 spat was not the first time the alliance had broken down. The first split came in 2002, when the Democratic Action Party took issue with the PAS policy of turning Malaysia into an Islamic state.
Even when the two were stablemates, relations were often testy and the alliance was described by detractors – including Mahathir – as a “marriage of convenience” between two incompatible partners. Hardliners in both parties rued the compromises involved in presenting a common opposition front.
Since the 2015 breakup, and the takeover of the PAS by hardliners led by Abdul Hadi Awang, the party has underlined its independence, returning to its roots and calling for the establishment of an Islamic state with hudud and other sharia laws at its core.
“The dominant faction in PAS now sees the party as being stronger when it is independent, when it does not compromise its principles and when it holds strictly to its original principles,” political analyst Hisommudin Bakar said.
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“This is their main offer to Malaysian voters, that they are a principled party. The problem is whether Malaysians these days are necessarily attracted to ideologically driven parties,” said Hisommudin, the executive director of think tank Ilham Centre.
This insistence on principles did not stop PAS president Abdul Hadi from sharing the stage with Najib at two high-profile Islamic-themed events (a dinner for the Al-Azhar University alumni association in 2015 and a Rohingya solidarity rally in 2016). Those appearances came despite the cloud following Najib, who is at the centre of a multibillion ringgit fraud probe at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
Investigators have alleged that US$681 million in transfers from the fund were made to Najib’s personal bank accounts in 2013. He says these were “personal donations” from the Saudi royal family and has denied any wrongdoing.
Leaders from Najib’s party, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) – a Malay supremacist party that is the biggest player in the National Front coalition – claim Najib’s meetings with Abdul Hadi were aimed at rapprochement in the name of Malay-Muslim solidarity. However, there have been suggestions (consistently denied by the PAS) that the two parties – historical rivals for the ethnic Malay vote – are seeking an alliance.
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“Absolutely not. We are 100 per cent going to fight Umno in the next general election,” PAS election director Mustafa Ali said.
Mustafa stressed that PAS was committed to being an opposition party and was pursuing talks with Hope Coalition members that aimed to ensure only one opposition candidate stood against the National Front in each constituency. Some 222 parliamentary and 505 state legislative seats are to be contested.
Kadir Jasin, a Bersatu supreme council member, confirmed talks were ongoing with PAS representatives and said PAS activists appeared keen to work with the Hope Coalition.
Yet a PAS party source said senior leaders such as Abdul Hadi had signalled they wanted to be independent of either coalition.
If so, that could play into the hands of the National Front. In what many see as an attempt to scupper reconciliation between the PAS and the Hope Coalition, the Umno-owned daily newspaper Utusan Malaysia has recently played up stories of PAS accusing the Democratic Action Party of interfering in Islamic affairs in the island city state of Penang.
“It is in Umno’s interest that PAS remains independent and not part of the [Hope Coalition],” the PAS source said.
This is because historically, the National Front has always prevailed in contests where the opposition vote is split between multiple candidates.
However, Hisomuddin at the Ilham Centre, said multi-candidate contests would not necessarily benefit the National Front. “Our surveys show that undecided voters or ‘fence sitters’ make up about 40 per cent of the electorate in any constituency. These voters are interested in coalitions that are Malaysia-centric and are strong enough to form a government.”
That in turn might affect the popularity of the supposed kingmaker PAS, as such voters were “unlikely to choose an independent party with one ideology”.■
Sheridan Mahavera
http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/polit...-islamist-party-could-sway-malaysias-election
