by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, March 4, 1994;
Mahathir should declare that the Federal Government opposes the PAS Kelantan State hudud laws because they are inappropriate for a multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia rather than they are not Islamic enough
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, should declare that the Federal Government opposes the PAS Kelantan State hudud laws because they are inappropriate to a multiracial, multi-religious Malaysia which is based on a secular constitution, rather than that they are not Islamic enough.
This is because the reasons given by Dr. Mahathir yesterday for rejecting the Kelantan. State hudud laws on the ground that they are PAS hudud laws, implies that the position of the Federal Government would be different if the hudud laws are enacted by a UMNO state government.
Such a stand represents a fundamental policy change of the Federal Government, since Merdeka that Malaysia is a secular nation and that the Federal Constitution guarantees full freedom of religion in the country.
DAP calls on the Cabinet to reiterate the fundamental commitment which had been made by all the three previous Prime Ministers that Malaysia will not be turned into an Islamic state and that the secular basis of the Federal Constitution would not in any manner be undermined or eroded.