P'raya masjid: Kenapa nama Agong perlu diheret....

Meskipun mengakui Yang di-Pertuan Agong mempunyai kuasa dalam hal-hal berkaitan agama Islam di negeri-negeri yang tidak mempunyai Raja-raja Melayu, namun pakar perlembagaan Profesor Abdul Aziz Bari mempertikaikan cara nama Seri Paduka diheret setiap kali bagi membidas dasar-dasar kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang.

"Hanya selepas Pakatan Rakyat mengambil-alih Pulau Pinang, tiba-tiba peranan Agong menjadi tokoh yang signifikan.

"Nama Baginda digunakan bagi menghalang sebarang tindakan yang diambil oleh kerajaan negeri,” kata pensyarah Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIAM) itu kepada Malaysiakini

Abdul Aziz berkata prosedur atau peraturan yang betul mengikut perlembagaan adalah bagi pihak Istana Negara atau setiausaha sulit Yang di-Pertuan Agong bagi mengeluarkan kenyataan berhubung kedudukannya sebagai ketua agama dan bukannya oleh pihak-pihak yang lain.

"Pastinya bukan Menteri Di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, yang merupakan sebahagian daripada kerajaan.

"Jadi beliau harus diam. Biarkan Baginda melaksanakan tanggungjawab yang diperuntukkan oleh perlembagaan - bebas daripada kerajaan sama ada peringkat persekutuan mahupun negeri,” kata Abdul Aziz.

Beliau juga membidas dakwaan 'mengarut' oleh kumpulan pendesak Melayu, PERKASA yang berkata adalah salah bagi mengadakan pemilihan jawatankuasa kariah masjid diadakan.

"Pertama, tidak ada fatwa mengatakan pemilihan itu adalah haram mengikut Islam,” katanya.

Fatwa

Lagipun menurut profesor itu lagi, umat Islam, sama ada dari Umno, PAS dan PKR, semuanya pernah terbabit dalam pemilihan parti masing-masing. "Jika ini tidak mengikut Islam, majlis fatwa sepatutnya mengeluarkan hukum berhubung perkara itu,” katanya.

Semalam, hasrat Majlis Agama Islam Pulau Pinang (MAIPP) bagi mengadakan pemilihan jawatankuasa kariah masjid bagi sesi 2012-2013 dengan kaedah pilihan raya terpaksa dibatalkan. Keputusan itu dibuat di Istana Negara di Kuala Lumpur apabila Yang di-Pertua Negri Abdul Rahman Abbas dan Yang Dipertua MAIPP Ellias Zakaria menghadap Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.

Mesyuarat agung masjid-masjid di Pulau Pinang yang dijadualkan hari ini dan esok itu sepatutnya memilih jawatankuasa kariah di 151 daripada 200 masjid tetapi kini ditangguhkan sehingga notis lanjut. Pemilihan ala pilihan raya yang dicadangkan itu bagi membolehkan anak kariah mengundi secara sulit untuk memilih pemimpin kariah yang sebelum ini dipilih oleh MAIPP.

Bantahan pelbagai pihak yang didalangi Umno begitu lantang kerana gusar pilihan raya kariah masjid akan menghakis sokongan kepada parti itu yang kini gagal menguasai kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang setelah ditumbangkan pada pilihan raya umum 2008.

Umno mendakwa pemilihan secara demokrasi itu akan hanya membawa perpecahan di kalangan umat Islam selain mengheret masjid ke kancah politik kepartian.

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While confirming that constitutionally, the Agong has purview over Islamic matters in ruler-less states like Penang, renowned constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari questions the use of his name to criticise the Penang state government's policies.

"Only after Pakatan Rakyat took over Penang, that suddenly the Agong became a significant figure.

"His name has been used to block any moves made by the state government," the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) lecturer told Malaysiakini.

Abdul Aziz said that the proper procedure given by the provisions in the constitution, is for the palace or the Agong's private secretary, to issue the statement pertaining to his position as head of religion, not any other party.

"Certainly not the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Jamil Khir Baharom, who is part of the government of the day (read: party politics).

"So he should keep quiet. Let the Agong do the job himself as provided for under the constitution, independent of the government, be it federal or state," argued the law professor.

He also hit out at what he said is the "nonsensical" claim of Malay rights group Perkasa that it is not right to elect mosque committees. "For one thing there is no fatwa saying that it is forbidden in Islam," said Abdul Aziz.

Furthermore, the don pointed out that Muslims, in Umno, PAS and PKR, have all been taking part in party elections. "If it is un-Islamic the fatwa council would have issued an edict on the matter," concluded the legal expert.

Mosque elections put off

The Penang Islamic Affairs Council's (MAIPP) plan to hold local elections for nearly 200 mosque committees in the state was put off after Penang Governor Abdul Rahman Abbas and MAIPP head Ellias Zakaria met with the Agong in Istana Negara on yesterday. The annual general meetings of the mosques planned for today and tomorrow, was postponed until further notice.

The plan had came under fire from Umno, Perkasa and Jamil Khir soon after it was made public. While Umno and Perkasa invoked the Agong's name in their protest, some like Abdul Aziz believe that they are just making use of the paramount ruler's name for their own political ends.

However, as Aziz Bari confirmed, it is the Agong's prerogative to be consulted on matters that touch on Islamic affairs in rules-less states like Penang. A prerogative that the paramount ruler had apparently exercised yesterday in ordering the mosque elections to be "withheld".

source:malaysiakini

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