Datuk Sebastian Ting Chew Yew
MIRI: SUPP is shocked and opposed PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s statement that non-Muslims can only play non-decision making roles in the cabinet, saying it is out of sync and against the Federal Constitution and Malaysia’s multi-racial background.
Its secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting Chew Yew said this in response to Hadi Awang’s opinion piece published by the party’s mouthpiece Harakahdaily on Dec 22 in which he said non-Muslims under an Islamic administration could still become cabinet members but with limited powers.
“ Such statement is disturbing and such a stand does not reflect the general opinion of the majority of the people, “ Ting said.
Quoting from the 11th century scholar Al-Mawardi, Hadi wrote that non-Muslims could still play a role in governance, but only in management duties, not in policy making.
“In politics, Islam makes it compulsory that its main leadership in charge of policies and concepts must be from among Muslims, and accepts non-Muslims to execute their expertise and play a management role, not in matters of policies and concepts. As such, Islam, through elections, accepts positions filled by non-Muslims or a technocracy,” Hadi had said.
Ting, who is also Piasau state assemblyman, said Malaysia’s system of government is closely modelled after that of the Westminster parliamentary system, a legacy of British colonial rule.
All this while the Federal Constitution provides a fair and just system that allows all Cabinet Parliamentary members to make collective policies, he adds, and SUPP believe in this system which has been working extremely well.
Hadi’s view is strange and does not reflect the current era of the 21st century and the reality of a secular country and Malaysians living in harmony in a multi-racial and multi-religious country, Ting said further.
“We have always separated religion from politics. This is the beauty and strength of our multi-racial country. We should never allow it otherwise. We must maintain such closeness and understanding with each other to continue to live with respect for each other,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Hadi’s hardline stand has invited the rebuke of many others from across the political spectrum.
Ting, who is a lawyer by profession, said he concurred with the view of retired Federal Court Judge Tan Sri Gopal Sri Ram that, under the Federal Constitution, all cabinet members have equal status.
Sri Ram had asserted that Malaysia has a written constitution modelled along Westminster lines, and members of the cabinet are equal and have a collective responsibility, which includes policy-making.