MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek kicked off the much anticipated ‘Malaysian Chinese At the Political Crossroads’ conference today with an all out verbal assault against Pakatan Rakyat, ahead of his debate against DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

NONE In his speech officiating the event, Chua contended that should Pakatan form the next federal government, the federal constitution would be in “jeopardy” because of PAS’ Islamic agenda.

Chua argued that PAS’ “obsession” with implementing hudud law was a threat to the prevailing legal and judicial system embodied in the Malaysian constitution.

“Malaysians have to ask themselves: what is the track-record of hudud oriented states? How have they fared in terms of governance?

“Have they reduced the level of corruption? Countries that practice hudud are mostly corrupt. Have they curbed abuse of power? Are hudud states of higher moral calibre than other states?” asked Chua.

‘Hudud under Pakatan is real’

Chua said that while Pakatan has claimed that the hudud agenda was not part of its policy document - the Buku Jingga - it will not guarantee that PAS will not push for it when the coalition comes to power.

“In the 1999 general election, hudud was not mentioned in the opposition’s common manifesto but within months of assuming power in Terengganu, PAS formulated hudud legislation,” said Chua.

The legislation which outlines punitive action such as stoning to death for adultery is still in place today after BN took over the state in 2004.

Chua pointed out that the PAS-led Kedah state government has already announced that it will follow Kelantan’s footsteps in implementing hudud law, and that PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had “very slyly” expressed his personal commitment towards hudud.

“Though the danger of hudud becoming reality under Pakatan rule is real, there are some naive commentators who insist that the DAP will be able to check PAS’ agenda,” he said.

‘Racially charged DAP’

In contrast, Chua said BN’s approach was “diametrically” different from PAS’, which had a “puritanical zeal” that curbs women rights, interaction between sexes, public access to entertainment and the freedom of cultural expression.

NONE Chua’s hudud bashing spree took place while keynote speaker and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak listened on.

Meanwhile, Chua also claimed that DAP was becoming so “racially charged” to the point of being “arrogant”.

“DAP in its campaign, especially with the Chinese crowd, likes to allude to their success in forming the Penang government and a DAP leader as the chief minister.

“This has given false hope to the Chinese that this is possible in other states. By tradition, this is only possible in Penang but not others.

“Hence, DAP has been planting hope in the minds of an approximately 6.5 million Malaysian Chinese that a Chinese-led government is possible and that Malaysian Chinese have been short-changed by MCA,” he said.

Against the odds

A case in point, said Chua, was the case of the short-lived Pakatan government in Perak, where DAP won the most seats, but the menteri besar’s position was ceded to PAS, which had the least number of seats.

hee yit fong perak state assembly chaos 070509 01 Moreover, he pointed out that DAP was now receptive of a PAS nominee for the position of Johor menteri besar.

“In short, a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS and PKR, as they are partners in Pakatan. To empower DAP is to strengthen PAS and paving the way for PAS to be the ‘taiko (big brother)’ in the state and federal government,” he said.

The highly watched conference today will see four topics being discussed, and will feature one DAP leader in each session facing up to five top Chinese BN leaders.

Some sessions will be moderated by MCA leaders such as Fong Chan Onn, Ng Yen Yen and Kong Cho Ha.

The event will culminate in a debate between Chua and Lim, that will be televised live.

The event is jointly organised by Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute(Asli) and MCA’s think tank Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap)