PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said DAP wouldn’t need to state in its manifesto its goal of “fighting for Malaysia to be a secular country” if the nation was already a secular country.

“DAP’s manifesto itself confirms that Malaysia isn’t a secular state,” he told a press conference at PAS’s muktamar today.

Earlier, Lim gave PAS three suggestions for the Islamic party to obtain non-Malay and non-Muslim support for GE16.

On the use of ‘kafir’

Lim had also urged PAS leaders to stop using the term “kafir” to describe non-Muslims as it creates a negative perception of the community and causes division in Malaysia’s multiracial society.

In response, Tuan Ibrahim said DAP must understand the meaning of the word.

He said it is often misconstrued to carry the meaning of something “disgusting, dirty and bad”. However, “kafir” merely described those who do not accept the Islamic faith, he said. “So it merely refers to non-Muslims. It’s a term related to faith, not language or culture, but rather a matter of religious belief,” he said.

Lim’s third suggestion was that Hadi must also agree that the issue of corruption in Malaysia is a deeply rooted problem which knows no ethnic boundaries.

In August last year, Hadi drew brickbats after accusing non-Muslims and non-Bumiputeras of being at the root of corruption and forming the “majority of those involved in ruining the country’s politics and economy”.