NAJIB'S "ISLAMIC STATE" REMARK DRAWS THE IRE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001174

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PINR SOCI KISL MY
SUBJECT: NAJIB'S "ISLAMIC STATE" REMARK DRAWS THE IRE OF
MALAYSIA'S MINORITIES

REF: A. 06 KUALA LUMPUR 2167


B. 06 KUALA LUMPUR 1975

C. 06 KUALA LUMPUR 1516

D. KUALA LUMPUR 949

Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun
Abdul Razak set off a fire storm on July 17 when, in response
to a reporter's question, he stated that Malaysia is and has
always been an "Islamic state." Malaysia's minorities and
opposition parties attacked the DPM's comments as violative
of the nation's constitutional history and of the social
contract which formed a single nation from Malaysia's Malay,
Chinese and Indian ethnic groups. The ruling coalition's
largest Chinese party, MCA, defended the country's status as
a secular nation and declared secularism to be the
unequivocal, original intention of the nation's founders.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Malaysian Bar
Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan joined the chorus of
protesters decrying Najib's statement. Reeling from the
growing backlash among Malaysia's minorities, the Ministry of
Internal Security issued a directive two days later requiring
all print media to cease publication of any discussion of
Malaysia's status as a secular or Islamic state other than
statements made by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister. Opposition party DAP vowed to continue the public
discussion and plans to hold a public forum on the issue on
July 26. Najib's statement may help the dominant UMNO party
woo Malay voters away from the Islamist opposition party PAS;
however, it also has opened a political can of worms for the
non-Muslim electorate and could be used to attract already
disenchanted minority voters away from the ruling Barisan
Nasional (BN) coalition. End Summary.

"We have never been a secular state"
--------------


2. (U) Responding to a reporter's question at the July 17
opening of the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia
(IKIM)'s two-day international conference on "The Role of
Islamic States in a Globalised World," Deputy Prime Minister
Najib Tun Razak explained that Malaysia is not a secular
state, but an Islamic state driven by the fundamentals of
Islam. The reporter asked Najib if Malaysia was an Islamic
state and to comment on concerns that Malaysia was moving
from a secular government to an Islamic state. Najib
answered: "Islam is the official religion and Malaysia is an
Islamic state, an Islamic state that respects the rights of
non-Muslims and we protect them. I want to correct you, that
we have never been a secular state. Secular by Western
definition means separation of the Islamic principles in the
way we govern the country. But we have never abdicated from
those principles. Malaysia has always been driven by and
adhered to the fundamentals of Islam. So your premise is
wrong."


3. (U) Najib's impromptu remarks to reporters followed his
delivery of the opening address to the conference, which he
explained was in fact the Prime Minister's speech. The
address focused on PM Abdullah's familiar themes of the
importance of economic development and education in Muslim
countries and references to Islam's golden age and status as
the world's first "globalizing force." The address did not
explicitly address the issue of Malaysia as an Islamic state,
though this was the clear implication. The opening ceremony
also featured a highly theoretical lecture by IKIM's Director
General Syed Al-Attas on "What it Means to be an Islamic
State," which argued that following Islamic principles and
revelations was more important to the definition than
Islamizing otherwise Western governmental institutions.


4. (U) Najib's words did little to elaborate on former Prime
Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad's June 2002 remarks to
Parliament when he declared that, "Malaysia is not a moderate
Islamic state but an Islamic fundamentalist state as its
policy is to abide by the fundamental teachings of Islam."
Furthermore, Najib's statement does not reflect any current
attempt to amend the Constitution or make any new
institutional changes in favor of Islam. The Islamic state
descriptor, however, goes to the heart of concerns from
Malaysia's substantial non-Malay minorities, who make up some
40 percent of the population. Understandably, Najib's
contemporary remarks on the eve of Malaysia's 50th
anniversary of independence ignited a firestorm of criticism
foremost from the Chinese community, but also from other
supporters of secular government, such as the Bar Council.

Coalition partner MCA fires back
--------------

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5. (U) The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA),Malaysia's
largest minority party and founding member of the country's
original Alliance uniting Malay, Chinese and Indian political
parties, took particular exception to Najib's remarks.
Facing immense voter dissatisfaction for cowing to UMNO
attacks during last year's UMNO general assembly (ref A),MCA
could hardly afford to remain silent. On July 19, MCA's
Secretary General Ong Ka Chuan took the lead on countering

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Najib's remarks. Ong delivered public remarks to the press,
openly disagreeing with the Deputy Prime Minister. Ong
stressed that, contrary to Najib's remarks, Malaysia had
always been a secular state and that this was part of the
original social contract. Ong quoted the September 27, 1956
Alliance Memorandum to the Reid Commission that stated: "The
religion of Malaysia shall be Islam. The observance of this
principle shall not impose any disability on non-Muslim
nationals professing and practicing their own religion, and
shall not imply the State is not a secular state." Ong
further cited notes prepared by the Colonial Office dated May
23, 1957 at the London Conference Talks which said: "The
members of the Alliance delegation stressed that they had no
intention of creating a Muslim theocracy and that Malaya
would be a secular state." "This was the unequivocal
original intention of UMNO, MCA and MIC," Ong countered.

Bar Council says Najib's father would disagree
-------------- -


6. (U) Malaysian Bar Council president, Ambiga Sreenevasan,
an ethnic Indian and leader of Malaysia's mostly non-Malay
legal profession, also lambasted the DPM's comments. In a
July 18 written statement to the press, she too quoted
Malaysia's founding fathers and even cited a report from the
independence sub-committee chaired by the current DPM's own
father, Abdul Razak, recognizing that Malaysia would be a
secular state. "It is time," Sreenevasan wrote, "that the
proposition that Malaysia is not secular, (which is a
rewriting of the Constitution),be put to rest once and for
all and that there is due recognition and reaffirmation of
the clear legal and constitutional position that Malaysia is,
and has always been, a secular State."

Anwar joins attack on Najib
--------------


7. (U) Former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the
opposition People's Justice Party, Anwar Ibrahim, also joined
in the attacks on Najib's declaration. Anwar lamented that
Najib's "latest pronouncement about Malaysia being an Islamic
state shows his dismal ignorance of what such a state really
means. In an attempt to pander to communal and religious
sentiments, Najib has chosen to blatantly disregard the
provisions of the Constitution which, while stating that
Islam is the religion of the Federation, safeguards the
sanctity of other religions without discrimination one from
the other."

Media clampdown
--------------


8. (SBU) Responding in typical fashion (see refs A and C) to
widespread criticism against the Government, and to
hot-button racial and religious issues, the Ministry of
Internal Security (MIS) issued an order on July 19 to all
mainstream media banning any further discussion of the
subject. Malaysiakini, the country's leading, independent,
online news portal, quoted a senior MIS official: "Yes, we
have given the directive to all mainstream newspapers. Islam
is a sensitive issue. They cannot publish any news on
whether the country is secular or Islam (sic)... Reaction
from political parties and the public cannot be published,
especially negative reactions." The officer told
Malaysiakini that MIS is afraid that allowing such
discussions would cause "tension." However, the MIS official
said newspapers can still publish statements from the Prime
Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister on the country being
an Islamic state.

DAP seeks to capitalize on Chinese reaction
--------------


9. (SBU) The country's largest opposition party, the
Democratic Action Party (DAP),has already begun to
capitalize on Najib's racially divisive statements as a
rallying cry for their campaign and are seeking to attract
even more voters away from MCA and Gerakan. Despite, and
perhaps due to, the Ministry of Internal Security's ban on
print media, DAP has already announced a public forum to
discuss Malaysia's standing as a secular country to be held
on July 26 at the Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur.

KUALA LUMP 00001174 003 OF 003



Comment
--------------


10. (C) Najib's remarks come on the heels of the court
decision in the Lina Joy apostasy case, which reassured
Muslim conservatives and disappointed non-Muslim minorities
(ref D). Whether planned or not, Najib's statement (like the
Lina Joy decision) will play well among the constituents of
the dominant United Malays National Organization (UMNO),and
allow UMNO to solidify its Islamic credentials among
Malaysia's Malay/Muslim majority. These and other issues set
UMNO and the ruling government out as the defender of Islam;
its increasingly privileged position in Malaysian society
continues to polarize the country's ethnic communities.
Divisive religious and ethnic issues have been growing in the
Malaysian electorate. The 2006 Sarawak state elections,
along with several by-elections earlier this year, reflected
great voter dissatisfaction among Malaysia's Chinese minority
(ref B). Following UMNO's annual general meeting last year,
Malaysia's dominant Chinese political parties, MCA and
Gerakan, found themselves facing even greater voter apathy
and a growing dissatisfaction within their own communities.
While Najib's comments certainly strengthen his position
among the Malays, they unquestionably undermine the standing
of BN's minority parties in their own communities and
threaten to weaken Chinese voices within the ruling
government. Chinese voters, however, face poor options. The
alternative to UMNO as a Malay political partner is the
unabashedly Islamist opposition party PAS, known for its
advocacy of a much more conservative and far-reaching version
of an Islamic state.


11. (C) The Government's heavy-handed order to cease media
discussion of this "sensitive issue" came as no surprise to
anyone in Malaysia. Although press freedom expanded at the
margins following Mahathir's departure, Prime Minister
Abdullah Badawi's 2004 campaign promises to foster freedom of
the press never came to full fruition. Quashing media
discussion of religious and ethnic divisions has remained a
mainstay of UMNO political control (ref A). Despite threats
to the print media, these "sensitive" discussions continue on
the internet, and the chasm between Malaysia's ethnic and
religious groups grows with each passing event.
LAFLEUR