No BN minister is likely to speak out against the Pahang mufti’s 'kafir harbi' declaration against those who are opposed to PAS' implementation of hudud.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang expressed his skepticism today following an outcry over the mufti's statement last week, over which Prime Minister Najib Razak was slammed for remaining silent.

"The BN supreme council should be convened to declare the BN stand on the […] 'kafir harbi' statement, which not only violates BN policy and consensus, but threatens the unity and solidarity of the Malaysian Federation especially with reference to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 […]

"[This] apart from being a most contemptuous disregard of 59 years of Malaysian nation building and the fundamental Rukunegara principle in upholding the rule of law," said Lim in a statement today.

"This does not appear to be likely, as not a single minister, not even the prime minister and deputy prime minister, has demanded that the Pahang mufti […] must retract his seditious and incendiary 'kafir harbi' statement.

"Who will be the first ministers to speak up to repudiate and completely dissociate from the […] statement?" mused Lim, who is Gelang Patah MP.

Last Friday Pahang mufti Abdul Rahman Osman was reported in Utusan Malaysia calling DAP 'kafir harbi' for opposing PAS' move to implement hudud in Kelantan through its president Abdul Hadi Awang's Private Member's Bill.

The bill to amend federal syariah limits caused an uproar prior to the recent twin by-elections, when Najib purportedly instructed Umno MP Azalina Othman Said to fast track Hadi's motion on the bill on the last day of the parliamentary sitting.

The mufti's critics have pointed out pronouncing someone 'kafir harbi' is a serious matter as it is meant specifically for those who are said to wage war against Islam and purportedly permits those so labeled to be slain.

The severity of the matter is exacerbated by the growing Islamic State (IS) terrorist threat in the country, warn critics.

Will BN push hudud through?

Lim pointed out BN leaders failed to call a coalition supreme council meeting to deal with the earlier controversy over the hudud fast tracking, despite consternation raised over Umno's purported unilateral decision.

"When I suggested last month that an emergency meeting of the BN supreme council should be requisitioned over what happened in Parliament on May 26, […] there was not a single leader from the 14-party BN coalition who dared to take up the suggestion," said Lim.

He speculated what the implications for BN would be since the hudud issue was played up during the two by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar, which BN won.

"Will the twin BN by-election victories mean that there will be another ministerial motion at the end of the year to fast-track Hadi’s hudud motion, or will it mean [the reverse] and that [the bill] will left in limbo, as had been the case with Hadi’s hudud [bill] in the past?"

Hadi's bill, which serves to remove the final obstacle to Kelantan implementing hudud penalties, had been skipped over in the past two parliamentary sittings since it was first tabled last year, which has raised questions why it was suddenly fast-tracked in the sitting just before this month's by-elections.