KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 ― Islamist party PAS said today it will focus on pushing for “Islamic leadership” in Malaysia as the current Parliament is dominated by non-Muslims.
Its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang was quoted saying the party will bring up the issue in its muktamar, or annual congress, this weekend.
“We want to raise awareness of the need for an Islamic leadership in the country because the GE14 outcome sees a federal government that does not represent the nation’s demographics,” he told New Straits Times in an interview.
“The Muslim population in Malaysia is 65 per cent, but the seats are dominated by non-Muslims.
“This needs to be addressed as it could affect the well-being of Muslims. We need to rise to face this challenge,” he added.
Despite Hadi’s assertion, the last official census in 2010 showed that Muslims made up just 61.3 per cent of the population.
PAS and its supporters had previously claimed that there are more non-Muslim MPs than Muslim ones among the government.
Despite that, Muslims still make up the majority of the Dewan Rakyat.
In July, PAS had previously claimed that the legal rights of Muslims are now under threat following the appointments of non-Muslims into top legal positions in the country.
Its information chief Nasrudin Hassan had questioned the Pakatan Harapan government’s rationale in appointing non-Muslim to the posts of attorney general, chief justice, and minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of legal affairs.
Hadi said in the interview that he hoped PAS members and supporters will continue to back its state governments in Kelantan and Terengganu, pledging to turn them into “models of Islamic administration” in the country.
“Following GE14, Kelantan and Terengganu were the first to form state governments with no hiccups, unlike some other states. We had also fulfilled many of the promises in the party manifesto while Pakatan Harapan is struggling to fulfil some of its promises,” he said.