PAS Kelantan told to carry out referendum before implementing hudud

The PAS-led Kelantan state government can prove that hudud laws are wanted by the people of the state by having a public vote or referendum, said Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) coordinator Ahmad Syukri Ab Razab.

He said by doing so, the Kelantan state government can set an example to other states and the Federal government as through the referendum system, the people can make a choice across political beliefs for the benefit of all.

“This will make the PAS-led government in Kelantan become a spark for a democracy system which truly is based on the values of people’s power,” he said in a press statement.

“With a capacity of 918,573 registered voters, it is not impossible for the state government to carry out the referendum which will truly set a new history in Malaysia democracy system,” he added.

He stressed that the 13th general election results cannot be used as a basis for the state government to implement hudud in the state as based on the results, only 44 per cent of the people of Kelantan had given their votes to PAS to form government in the state.

“The overall votes that PAS received in Kelantan is 44 per cent of the total number of registered voters which comes to a total of 400,238 people, followed by BN 37 per cent and PKR 2 per cent,” he said.

“44 per cent is a significant figure which showed that not even half of Kelantan's registered voters gave their votes to PAS,” he added.

He said to claim that the majority of Kelantan people support PAS, the party needed to have at least 465,000 votes.

He also said that the Kelanatan state government need not fear of carrying out the referendum as the people in the state have long been taught and instilled with Islamic Tarbiah values.

He said it would also not be a surprise if after all the years of being instilled with Tarbiah Islamic values, more than 465,000 people showed their support for hudud.

Ahmad Syukri said with the referendum system, the state government needed to have at least 51 per cent of support from the voters to implement hudud.

“If the referendum failed to garner 51 per cent of votes, then it is an indicator that the people of Kelantan are not ready to accept hudud for lack of understanding or other factors,” he said.

He said the state government should not take offence if it failed to garner the support for hudud from the registered voters as it showed that the people are expecting more explanation about the laws.

“Maybe the people of Kelantan see that there are other pressing matters that the state government should concentrate on now than hudud law,” he said.

He said if the state government was adamant of implementing the hudud laws without allowing the people to make a choice, it might translate into protest in the 14th general election.

He added that it was better for the people of Kelantan to reject hudud laws from being implemented in the state rather than rejecting the PAS-led government in the next general election.