KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — In a continuation of his pro-Malay rhetoric, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has today called for non-Muslims to just let the majority ethnic group continue to hold the reins of the country.
In a lengthy opinion piece, the Marang MP said non-Muslims should be grateful that they have been given “a place” in this country through the jus soli citizenship policy that he claimed would not be afforded everywhere else.
“They must accept the fact that most countries in the world do not give a place to anybody who is not native and does not believe in the country’s ideology, but Islam gives fair rights to non-Muslim residents who do not embrace Islam as the country’s creed.
“The position of Islam embraced by the Malay community cannot be arbitrarily challenged. Moreover, the tolerance shown towards them should be respected,” he said.
Despite Hadi’s remark, many countries grant citizenship to others regardless of their religions. Many countries continue to be multi-religious, even in those with an “official religion”,
Islam is the religion of the federation in Malaysia, and other faiths can be practised freely — however, they cannot proselytise to Muslims.
As such, Hadi said non-Muslims should just continue with the status quo and not threaten the leadership of Malay-Muslims.
Hadi also said Malay-Muslims have afforded non-Muslims roles in other aspects that are unrelated to the Muslim faith, such as “allowing” them to hold positions in the Cabinet, state executive council, and government departments.
“This is something that all ideologies have never allowed when governing their respective countries,” he claimed.
The piece also contained lengthy unsubstantiated and debunked accusations against DAP, as he urged the ethnic Chinese and Indians to not “be duped” by the Pakatan Harapan component.
Just on Monday, Hadi said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was wrong to say the stability of a government relies more on its policies rather than its ethnic composition.
The president of the Islamist party doubled down on his recent racial remarks by insisting that only Malay-Muslims should lead, rule and administer a pluralistic society that includes non-Muslims.
Most recently, the PAS president said the unity government is not fit to lead because it is “dominated” by minorities, a claim that has been debunked several times.
Last week, Anwar expressed confidence that many Malays support his administration, saying they care more about good policies than the racial composition of a government.
