KUALA LUMPUR: Political maverick and DAP member Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has criticised PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for appearing timid in answering questions posed to her on the issue of hudud.
Zaid, who is also a former cabinet minister, extended his criticism to all Muslim leaders in the Pakatan Harapan pact, save for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“Muslim leaders in Pakatan (with the exception of Tun) are always afraid of answering questions about hudud. Wan Azizah is just one them,” Zaid said in a tweet today.
He was commenting on Dr Wan Azizah’s recent interview with Al-Jazeera journalist Mehdi Hasan, who had probed her stance on hudud and her position as a “proxy” for husband and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Quotes of her response to the hudud question in the interview, aired on Al Jazeera, include the following: “hudud is not implemented unless all the things that are supposed to be in line with justice are there”, “as a Muslim, you have to accept it as God’s laws”, “implementation is different,” and a clarification that she is not in a “position as an ulama to talk about it”.
In an allusion to Pakatan Harapan’s Muslim leaders and Pas, Zaid said that many have failed to grasp the secular concept of the country’s Constitution.
“They don't understand that public laws and policies must be based on the singular concept that our Constitution is secular,” he said.
Zaid, who is known to be a proponent of secular laws, also tweeted that religious laws would not ensure freedom of choice.
“If you want to be the leader of a multi-religious country, you must be willing to defend secular institutions and laws.
“Only a secular country can ensure freedom and personal choice and religious laws do not,” Zaid said in a related tweet.