The Malaysian government warned a hardline Islamic opposition party Wednesday that the imposition of Islamic Sharia law in a state which it controls would be illegal. But the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) hit back by saying that if Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stood by his declaration last year that Malaysia is an Islamic state, then he should support Sharia law. The row is the latest twist in a political chess game over whether the government or the opposition is truly Islamic. Mahathir paints PAS, which wants to impose theocratic rule, as a party of violent extremists while at the same time claiming religious respectability for his own multiethnic government.
Hey, this ain't Nigeria. Didja ever notice that the people who want most to impose theocratic rule tend to be theocrats? |