Pas was unfair to us, says Kelantan delegate
SHAH ALAM: Delegates at the PKR Youth National Congress yesterday said Pas is to blame if there are three-cornered fights in the upcoming 14th General Election (GE14).
Kelantan delegate Dr Mohd Hafidz Rizal Amran, in debating PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad’s opening speech, said the way Pas ended its tahaluf siyasi (political cooperation) with PKR was not right.
“In Islam, discussion is encouraged, but they (Pas) just cut ties without discussing the matter.
“If there are three-cornered fights in GE14, whose fault is it?” he asked as delegates responded with “Pas”.
On May 11, Pas officially ended its 18-year cooperation with PKR, with the Syura Council, Pas’s highest decision-making body, deciding that the move was necessary to defend the party’s Islamic agenda.
The council accused PKR of breaking many terms of its conditional cooperation with Pas, failing to support its Islamic agenda and working against it in two by-elections last year.
Hafidz said it was not fair for Pas to accuse PKR of not supporting its agenda when jailed PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had voiced support for the tabling of the private member’s bill in Parliament to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, also known as RUU355.
“We have been accused of many things, such as not supporting RUU355, but our leader (Anwar) has supported the tabling of the bill though he is still in prison.
“How can they say we don’t support them?”
RUU355, which was first moved by Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, seeks to increase the syariah courts’ punishment caps to 30 years’ jail, a fine of up to RM100,000 and up to 100 strokes of the rotan.
Currently, punishments are capped at three years’ jail, fine of up to RM5,000 and six strokes of the rotan.