SHAH ALAM, Aug 11 – Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim today said the power to ban alcohol in Muslim majority areas lies with the Federal government and Umno should not pass the buck to the state government.
“Umno should urge their president to do so, if they really want to push the agenda.”
Khalid stressed that he was not asking for the government to do it but the matter should be studied to ensure there are no infringements on the rights of others who are allowed to drink.
“The power is not in our hands,” said Khalid, who instead had called on convenience stores in Muslim-majority areas to impose self-regulation to ensure beer is not sold to Muslims and minors.
He said self regulation is a common-sense solution to the problem.
He said Muslims know alcohol is “haram” and proprietors especially those who are Muslims should not be selling beer in Muslim majority areas anyway because there should be no demand.
Khalid said PAS Youth, which still insists the sale of beer should be banned in Muslim-majority areas, should instead locate stores which are still doing it openly and alert the state government.
The state government will call on these proprietors and advise them to adhere to the policy of self regulation to ensure beer is not sold to Muslims and minors.
PAS executive councillor Dr Halimah Ali today added that PAS Selangor agrees with the self-regulation policy which has been imposed by the state government.
She agreed that any move to ban beer or alcohol should be initiated by the Federal government led by Umno.
As for Pakatan Rakyat, all parties including the DAP, has no objections with the restriction on the sale of alcohol to non-Muslims, said Dr Halimah.
She added the media had blown the problem out of context and the issue had been played out as a dispute between DAP and PAS.
“PAS Selangor remains committed to PR and we remain committed to our slogan which is ‘PAS for all’.”
However, Dr Halimah’s stand today is unlikely to stop a campaign by Umno to drive a wedge between the PR coalition partners by continuing to highlight the issue.
The issue was ignited last Tuesday when PAS Commissioner Datuk Hassan Ali called for DAP’s Ronnie Liu to be stripped of his local government portfolio for allegedly interfering in a decision by the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) to seize beer from a 7-Eleven outlet, on July 29.
However, a decision was made to return the beer because there are no by-laws which give local government powers to seize the beer.
Both Hassan Ali and Umno have said they support the illegal seizure by MBSA and have lashed out at Liu.
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