Zaid jadi tukang kempen DAP dan PasMa pulak!

Zaid urges Malays to back DAP and PasMa

FMT Reporters

 | March 23, 2015

'We must maintain Malaysia as a country where God resides in our hearts and not in cheap political displays.'

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has called on “sensible Malays” to resist the rise of a “Taliban-style fascism” in Malaysian politics by supporting DAP or backing the establishment of a new party of Muslim moderates.

In his latest blog entry, Zaid describes DAP as the only existing political organisation showing integrity in the hudud issue.

As for a new Muslim party, he envisions one formed by members of PasMa, an NGO within PAS reputed to have moderate leanings. He says Malays should support such a party only if it is truly moderate.

He notes that the hudud bill approved by the Kelantan State Assembly last week had the support of PAS, Umno and PKR.

“It will be difficult fighting the neo-Taliban, but I would rather go through the travails of a fight than resign the country wholesale to their misrule,” Zaid writes.

“Our country is not just a physical space but also an idea close to our hearts. Being Malaysian is an identity that we are all justly proud of because it signifies our ability as a people of different races—who were once mostly poor and colonised in both Malaya and Borneo—to come together and share a dream of independence.

“We seized precious moments in our history to make good on the promise of building a single united and democratic nation that celebrated difference and diversity.

“We wanted a country that preserved our cultures and traditions, and of course we wanted a legal system that would preserve our limbs from amputation as well. We wanted to live in peace, and so all of us made a commitment to live by the rule of law under a secular constitution with equal rights and mutual respect.

“Never did we think that all this would one day be chucked aside in such cavalier fashion as the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly did last week.”

He rebukes so-called leaders who show “utter disregard” for the Malaysian idea of nationhood.

“It’s as if this country belongs to them and them alone,” he says. “The people apparently need no explanation about what hudud is about and don’t need to provide any input on laws that affect them. It’s as if the Kelantanese legislators alone understand God’s wishes and no one else. They alone are God-fearing.

“The same political leaders are proud to declare that non-Muslim Malaysians have no right to give their views on matters such as hudud, despite the fact that hudud is intended to be the law of the land.

“These political leaders have not seen it fit to consult the people of Sabah and Sarawak, even though it was agreed that Sabah and Sarawak would possess reserve powers upon forming the Federation of Malaysia.”

Zaid calls on Malaysians not to tolerate such a “usurpation of power”.

“We must demand that politicians behave like normal human beings,” he says. “We must maintain Malaysia as a country where God resides in our hearts and not in cheap political displays. We must once again become a country of reason, humanity and justice, where leaders are fearful of the people, and not the other way around.”