In his latest blog entry, former law minister Zaid Ibrahim took issue with Mastura for opting to observe “iddah” instead of campaigning for the seat as other candidates would be doing after nomination day.
“The religious ‘rule’ in question says that a widow must not be seen outside her house for the period of iddah, or four months and 10 days after her husband’s demise,” Zaid explained while also pointing out that this meant Mastura could not report for work, eat at a restaurant or even go to a shopping mall much less be present at nomination day on June 5, campaign from house to house or speak her mind about why she wanted to be a “wakil rakyat” for Kuala Kangsar.
“Mastura must therefore be willing to take leave of her religious obligations regarding iddah,” Zaid said, adding that if she felt otherwise, she must reject the candidacy.
He said if she insisted on still standing, the Election Commission would have to create new rules to accommodate her “religious obligations”, the consequences of which may be harmful to the workings of democracy.
“For a start, the Election Commission will have to bend over backwards to accommodate Umno’s wishes and make a ruling that the candidate need not be present at the nomination centre,” he said, adding that the same rule would have to apply to the other candidates as well, for this and future elections.”
“If a candidate does not campaign, is not seen by community members and does not speak, how can the electorate know if she will make a suitable MP? On what basis can they vote?”
Zaid asked if her pictures would be allowed to be posted along the streets of Kuala Kangsar to inform the people of her candidacy or if the “religious Umno men” would have an issue with that as well.
“Malays must stop causing problems for themselves if they want to play an important part in the real world. They must be able to decide what is important to them,” Zaid said, adding that if they insisted on following religious matters to the letter, they should not do it at the expense of standard, accepted practices.
“The real world operates differently, a fact they need to recognise quickly.”
He said he felt sorry for Kuala Kangsar voters who were asked to vote for Mastura as she would not be able to go out and serve her constituency until mid August, when her “iddah” period expired.
“If Kuala Kangsar voters want a proper wakil rakyat, they have to vote someone else.”
The Kuala Kangsar by-election will be held on June 18.