KUALA LUMPUR – Umno Youth has denied calling for its Supreme Council to pull the party out of the unity government following the backlash that erupted over comments from DAP’s Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham on non-Muslims being members of a special government committee on shariah laws.
Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh also slammed the fake news as “cheap politics” as Malaysians in the east coast are suffering from the floods.
“Instead of spreading slander, let’s focus on helping the people. Don’t let the people get fed up with politicians,” he said in a statement today.
Previously, Dr Akmal said Ngeh was an example of a politician who does not understand the sensitivities of Muslims in the country.
DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke then moved to diffuse the situation by calling out Ngeh’s proposal as a “mistake”, while reiterating the party’s support for the authorities, including the Malay rulers who are guardians of Islam, behind the establishment of the special committee.
Religious affairs minister Datuk Mohd Na’im Mokhtar last night said there was no merit to Ngeh’s call for non-Muslims to be in the special committee.
Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah also issued a decree last night reminding non-Muslims to respect and not interfere in the country’s Islamic affairs.
This morning, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he fully supported the Selangor ruler’s statement, and urged non-Muslims with any concerns about Islamic matters in the country to write to the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs.
The special committee was announced earlier this month by Na’im to review the competency of state legislatures to create shariah laws, as well as the jurisdiction of the shariah courts as provided for under the federal constitution.
This followed Anwar’s announcement in the Dewan Rakyat last month that Putrajaya will create a committee, sanctioned by the Conference of Rulers, to elevate and strengthen the shariah legal system. – December 30, 2023