Want to court non-Muslim voters? Stop calling them 'infidels' and 'roots of corruption' first, Kepong MP says

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng today said he supports PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang’s endeavour to court non-Muslim voters, but that the latter needs to take a few steps to be convincing to his target group.

In a statement, the DAP lawmaker had three recommendations for Abdul Hadi and PAS: to agree that Malaysia is a secular country with Islam as its religion of the federation, to stop labelling non-Muslims as “kafir” or “infidels”, and to agree that the issue of corruption in Malaysia does not solely stem from the non-Muslim community.

“In a time in which religious and racial sentiments are often a vehicle for political parties, it is important for PAS to present itself to the non-Muslim community in Malaysia as a political party that respects the rights of non-Muslims, in line with the PAS slogan 'Islam for all’,” Lim said.

The time has come for discussions to be based on policies and to stop playing on religious and racial sentiments, he added.

Lim said that the use of the term “kafir” or “infidel” has indirectly given non-Malay races a bad perception and Hadi as well as PAS must agree that its use only brings about negative effects while disturbing the country’s harmony.

On Tuesday, Pengkalan Chepa MP Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, who belongs to PAS, labelled DAP as “kafir” after a shouting match erupted between him and Ipoh Timur MP Howard Lee Chuan How over the latter’s alleged Quranic misinterpretation.

Meanwhile in August last year, Abdul Hadi accused non-Muslims and non-Bumiputera of making up the bulk of what he called as “roots of corruption” — those who chase illicit gains — to the detriment of the country's economy and politics.

Yesterday, Abdul Hadi conceded that PAS remains a party alien to minority communities and pledged to be “fair” to all in a speech delivered at its first “muktamar”, or annual congress.

He said ethnic minority distrust of the Islamist party was one of the key factors blocking the party's ambition to wrest federal power, which he suggested was within grasp.

Over the years, PAS had attempted to get non-Muslim backing by forming a non-voting Supporters' Congress, and attempted to paint DAP as “extremists" in support of secularism and Islamophobia.