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KUCHING – Any partnership which involves Islamist party PAS is unthinkable, said Sarawak activist Peter John Jaban.
He said in a statement that a coalition that puts a PAS puppet prime minister in the top post is equally abhorrent to the non-Muslim majority of Sarawakians, especially a politician who uses unfounded threats of “Christian plots” to support his position.
Jaban, vice-secretary of the Global Human Rights Federation (Malaysia), called on the Sarawak premier to consider his alliances carefully and reject Islamic extremism, which could make Malaysia a pariah state.
“Sarawak can and should work towards greater autonomy, but it cannot pull up the drawbridge completely. There are too many government departments that still hold sway over the lives of Sarawakians, both Christians and Muslims alike.
“Can our premier prevent forced conversions on marriage? Can he control the actions of JAIS against these unwilling converts?
“Can he stop the world from seeing the increasing extremism in Malaysia as a reason not to invest in our future?
“Perikatan Nasional (PN) is PAS-dominated. There is no other way to see this; therefore, a PN prime minister is unacceptable,” he added.
“Muhyiddin himself showed that he is unfit to be a prime minister. His bigoted anti-Christian statements on the eve of the election show at worst his own religious intolerance, or at least his own willingness to use extremist sentiment to either placate his coalition partners or to drive an election win.
“Words have consequences and this kind of platform empowers the worst members of Malaysian society.
“The majority have voted for moderate multi-culturalism. Sarawak has put its trust in GPS to deliver this. Do not betray us now in a rush to sign a deal that all Malaysians will have to live with for the next five years and beyond.”
According to him, Malaysia has shown both its willingness to control and punish corruption in the last few years.
“It has jailed one of the scions of Malaysian political society. There is now a mechanism to deal with this and we are on the right track.”
He said, however, little is being done to address religious extremism.
“This is the new battleground for Malaysia. The majority of Malaysian Muslims are tolerant, reasonable people who want religious freedom, social balance, and economic growth.
“The majority of Sarawakians are Christians who expect to conduct their lives undisturbed.
“We must choose an alliance that supports this,” he added. – The Vibes, November 21, 2022