‘Hudud is about votes'

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno’s support for the controversial Private Member’s Bill commonly referred to as the “Hudud Bill”, is a move to garner and maintain support from the Malay community, political analysts say.
“Naturally, right after the 2013 elections, the only card that can assure that it remains a dominant political party is to unite the Malay votes,” independent analyst Khoo Kay Peng said.
Describing Umno’s support towards the proposal as a “calculated political move”, he said it makes no difference in terms of the possible loss of trust of non-Malay voters.
“It is immaterial. Umno has already done its calculations. The Chinese votes have already reached a maximum, so its only concern would be how the Indians would react.
“If Umno gets 5% to 10% more votes from the Malays, it will be looking at a very solid majority in the next elections,” said Khoo.
Echoing these sentiments, associate professor Andrew Aeria from the faculty of social sciences in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) noted that Umno is trying to regain support from the Malay community after the 1MDB debacle.
“They have two by-elections to win,” he stressed, in reference to Sungai Besar, Selangor, and Kuala Kangsar, Perak.
According to Aeria, the party’s backing of the bill undermines the “fabric of democracy and human rights” in the country as Umno is using religion in a “regressive” way.
Datuk Dr Toh Kin Woon, a social and political analyst from the Penang Institute, said Umno is merely trying to “divert attention” from the scandals the country is currently involved in.
“This creates a diversion to hog the limelight and make it (the Hudud Bill) the issue of the day, especially with the two upcoming by-elections,” he said.
He stressed that support from the non-Malay community is not an area of focus for Umno.
“By Umno’s calculations, it has lost its support anyway; it is a marginal loss of support.
“The total Chinese votes are only 15% to 20%, so they can’t lose very much more,” he reasoned.
Toh also suggested that PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang proposed the motion to strengthen his own position within his party.