Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 3.7.2013.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE RELIGION OF ISLAM (FEDERAL TERRITORIES) BILL 2013 – PAS Selangor Is More Moderate Than BN, UMNO And Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin By Declaring That Conversion Of Children Below 18 Requires Consent Of Both Parents And Not One Parent.
DAP opposes any unilateral conversion of children by a single parent to any religion whether it is Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism. DAP position is that both parents’ consent must be obtained for a legally valid religious conversion for children under 18 as provided for under Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution.
PAS Selangor is more moderate than BN, UMNO and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin by declaring that conversion of children below 18 requires consent of both parents and not one parent. Selangor PAS commissioner Dr Abd Rani Osman opposed unilateral child conversions to Islam, saying such a “big” decision needed the consent of both parents.
This contrasts with Tan Sri Muhyidin’s defense of the unilateral child conversions in the proposed ADMINISTRATION OF THE RELIGION OF ISLAM (FEDERAL TERRITORIES) BILL 2013 is done in accordance with existing laws and that the scope has changed. There is no doubt that Tan Sri Muhyidin is wrong as unilateral child conversion is unconstitutional by violating Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution.
The Bar Council states that the Federal Constitution refers to both parents and not as proposed in this Bill, which intends to broaden the definition of parental consent in the conversion of children under the age of 18 to mean either instead of both parents. In April 2009, then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz reaffirmed the constitutional provision that banned unilateral conversion by any single parent of minors to Islam, requiring the consent of both parents.
Clearly this BN position in 2009 was a malicious and deceptive trick played by BN to hoodwink voters before the 2013 general elections. Once the general elections were over, BN had no moral compunction to betray the voters by changing their position.
DAP leaders will be holding dialogues and meetings with affected groups on the impact of such an unconstitutional provision in the Bill. DAP stresses that DAP does not oppose any clauses that deals with the welfare of those who are Muslims, but only those provisions that impinge, impair and deprive the constitutional rights of non-Muslims.
Other concerns raised by non-Muslim religious groups include whether the proposed Bill expands the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts in Malaysia beyond what is provided for the Federal Constitution. Syariah courts have jurisdiction only over “persons professing the religion of Islam”. Their lawyers contend that Parliament cannot and should not purport to expand its own jurisdiction and that of the Syariah courts to cover those who are not Muslims, by means of an over-expansive definition that goes beyond the provisions of the Federal Constitution.
LIM GUAN ENG
—–Mandarin Version —–
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2013年7月3日发表声明：
2013年伊斯兰法律行政（联邦直辖区） 法案：伊斯兰党比国阵、巫统及副首相丹斯里慕尤丁还中庸，伊斯兰党宣布18岁以下的孩子若改教，必须获得父母的同意，而不是父母其中一人而已。
民主行动党反对任何单方面由单一家长为孩子改信任何宗教，无论是基督教、伊斯兰、佛教还是兴都教。行动党的立场是，在联邦宪法第12（4）条文下，任何18岁以下的孩子若进行改教，必须获得双方家长的同意才算合法有效。
雪兰莪伊斯兰党比国阵、巫统和副首相丹斯里慕尤丁还中庸，他们宣布18岁以下的孩子若改教，必须获得双方家长的同意，不是其中一方而已。雪州伊斯兰党专员阿都拉尼反对家长单方面为孩子改教，他说改教如此重大的决定必须获获得双方家长的同意。
这与丹斯里慕尤丁不同，他在2013年伊斯兰法律行政（联邦直辖区） 法案中，维护单一家长为孩子进行改教，他的理由是这是根据现有的法律而且范围也已经改变。无疑的是，丹斯里慕尤丁错了，任何父母单方面为孩子进行改教是违反联邦宪法第12（4）条文。
律师公会说，联邦宪法指必须获得父母双方同意，而不是像上述法案那样，在18岁以下孩子改教问题上，有意将“双亲同意”扩大成“其中一名家长同意”。2009年4月，首相署部长拿督斯里纳兹里已经重申，宪法条文禁止任何家长单方面为孩子改信伊斯兰教，孩子改教必须获得双方家长的同意。
很明显的，国阵在2009年的立场是为了在2013年大选捞取选票的恶意、欺骗伎俩。一旦选举过去，国阵就改变立场，背叛选民，在道德上没有丝毫的歉意。
行动党领袖将会主办对话会及会议，与受到上述法案影响的人士见面。行动党重申，我们不反对那些能够为穆斯林带来福利的条文，我们反对的是那些侵犯、破坏及剥夺非穆斯林宪法权利的条文。
非穆斯林宗教团体关注的其它课题包括：上述法案赋予我国伊斯兰宗教法庭比联邦宪法阐明的更多。伊斯兰宗教法庭的权限只针对“信奉伊斯兰的人士”。他们的律师主张国会不能够、也不应该扩大伊斯兰宗教法庭的法律权限至非穆斯林，以至其权限范围甚至超越联邦宪法所规定的。
林冠英