Its secretary Chan Foong Hin said Umno had taken a regressive step by pushing for such an amendment and the introduction of a Control and Restriction on the Propagation of Non-Muslim Religions Bill.
He pointed out it was imperative for Umno leaders to revisit the Cobbold Commission Report and the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report which formed the basis for the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“(After this) he will realise that freedom of religion is one of the main pillars in the founding of this beloved federation. Restriction of religion, including propagation, has no part at all in it,” the Kota Kinabalu MP said in a statement here today.
“To amend our Malaysian constitution into something which is unlike what our country’s founding fathers intended would be a grave betrayal against them.
“How can a political party which is part of the ruling coalition in control of both the Sabah and the federal government make such a call?
“Non-Muslims in Sabah have been living in harmony with Muslims in the state without the need for such laws, what more an amendment to the Federal Constitution to restrict freedom of religion.
“There should be no restrictions on the freedom of religion, period.”
In his opening speech at Umno’s general assembly on Sunday, Zahid had vowed to “empower” shariah law should they clinch a two-thirds majority at the next general election (GE15).
He said there was a need to amend the Federal Constitution to ensure shariah laws were strengthened in Malaysia’s legal system.
He referred to a recent High Court decision on the right of non-Muslims to call God “Allah” and also to the failure of the Selangor government to gain the right to enact any shariah criminal law that is already a federal statute.
Chan, in the meantime, challenged Sabah Umno leaders such as its chief Bung Moktar Radin to state their stand over the sensitive issue.
“Are they agreeable to pawn the right to freedom of religion that all Sabahans have been enjoying since Sabah became part of Malaysia in 1963 in return for a pittance?
“Will Bung and (Kimanis MP) Mohamad Alamin, as two Umno MPs from Sabah, declare their support for such an amendment to the Federal Constitution?” he asked.
While the Federal Constitution can only be amended with a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat, Chan hopes that all Sabahan MPs will “not slide down the slippery slope in sacrificing the larger state’s rights”.
“Even though the argument is that non-Muslims won’t be affected, it is not entirely true.
“In Sabah itself, we also have the native customary laws and the Mahkamah Anak Negeri (native court) to regulate such laws.
“Besides that, we have seen many cases of dispute when shariah law is involved, for example disputes in child custody by a non-Muslim mother and in the distribution of assets of a deceased where the parents are not Muslims,” he said.
Chan also fully supported fellow Sabah opposition party Upko which yesterday called for a renegotiation of the federal set-up for Malaysia if Umno proceeds with Zahid’s proposal.
Upko had said that those instrumental in the formation of Sabah and Sarawak, who came from various religious backgrounds, would have rejected the formation of Malaysia had they known “their countries would become part of an Islamic federation where personal sins would be slapped with heavy shariah punishments”.
“There would not have been a Malaysia. Malaya would have remained just Malaya,” said Upko president Wilfred Madius Tangau, deputy president Donald Peter Mojuntin and vice-president Ewon Benedict in a joint statement.
It said that if “Malaya” was adamant on expanding shariah law, Sabah and Sarawak must become autonomous regions with control of their economic resources to provide employment and education opportunities.