Malaysia's hudud bill doesn't bode well for racial ties

A dramatic development emerged last week in Malaysia's race-based political system, with some partners in the ruling coalition threatening to quit over a Bill to enhance the powers of the Islamic courts. Six Cabinet ministers from Chinese-based and Indian-based parties announced they would quit if a private member's Bill, tabled by the theocratic PAS, became law.

Two top leaders from Sabah and Sarawak have also voiced their opposition. They all fear that this is the thin end of the wedge in the push to impose a theocratic legal system on the people. They argue that if the Bill is passed, it will, at the minimum, divide the criminal code in a way that would make Malaysia's justice system exceptionally unfair. Investors will also want to know whether it would also impinge on the laws of tort and contract, now based on English Common Law. Public interest is at fever pitch. There is some way to go before the Bill becomes law. Umno, the dominant partner in the ruling coalition, knows that it cannot form a government with only its own 86 members and PAS's 14 in the 222-strong chamber if the National Front's non-Muslim partners pull out. But Muslim members from East Malaysia may back the Bill. Does it mean that the country's multi-racial and multi-religious coalition is coming apart at the seams? And why has it come to this?

With two by-elections looming, clearly the decision to allow the Bill to be tabled, ahead of the government's own business, seems to have been a ploy to turn attention away from the woes of Malaysia's debt-laden IMDB, the strategic state-owned investment fund. The other reason may have been a tactical one by Umno to give a leg up to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang at his party's annual congress last week. Ever since the opposition alliance (which included PAS) fell apart, the theocrats have been making overtures to Umno. This has riled some of its members who have questioned the benefits of pursuing such a policy. That this Bill is now on the parliamentary agenda provided all the reasons that the leaders needed to justify their policy. The Bill is up for debate in the next sitting in October.