Make PM listen, NGO heads tell Mahathir 
MalaysiaKini.com
Jan 7, 2015   

Three prominent Muslim NGO leaders met with former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad last week with the hope that he would pressure Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to act on their concerns.
 
Speaking to Malaysiakini, Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) chairperson Dr Farouk Musa described the meeting held last Tuesday, as a private initiative.

Farouk clarified that the three leaders did not represent the G25 agenda, despite their respective organisations supporting the 'Eminent Malays'.

He said the hudud issue was the main thrust of the meeting, which was also attended by Sisters in Islam (SIS) founding member Zainah Anwar and Movement for a Just World (Just) chairperson Chandra Muzaffar.
 
"It was not on the G25 agenda, it was a private initiative by the three of us.

"We wanted to voice out our concerns about what is happening in this country - the rise of the voices of extremists and all the Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) and Perkasa issues.

"They are doing whatever they think it right, and nobody is saying no to them," Farouk said.

When it was pointed out that Mahathir is the patron of Perkasa and considered by many to be part of the problem, Farouk explained that the former prime minister's voice "carries weight".

"Najib does not listen to anyone else. It's only Mahathir, who can say something that he would probably listen to," he added.

Mahathir stood up against hudud

Farouk elaborated that Mahathir has a major influence over the people, and had stood up against the Islamic agenda of PAS and hudud before this.

"What worries us is that even the government and ministers have been enticing PAS to table the hudud bill.

"As civil society leaders, we understand that the reason for them to entice PAS is to break up Pakatan Rakyat," he said.

Farouk said during Mahathir's (right) reign, he had "put a stop to it" when the hudud agenda became a prominent issue.

"So, we want Mahathir to advise Najib on the hudud agenda, which we think is going to break the country apart," he stressed.

Farouk also reiterated that the meeting was about hudud and its effects on the country.

"It was not about us representing G25 or anything like that. No, they would have to do their own work with the PM. This is our own private initiative," he added.

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