No new line-up for mosques in Perak, says Pakatan - The Star

IPOH: May 1, 2008

There has not been any reshuffling of imams or mosque committee members in Perak, the state government said.

The Perak Mentri Besar’s political secretary Misbahul Munir Masduki said the state was merely crosschecking the selection of committee members by the previous administration for possible political intrusion.

The state, he added, had discovered that the Barisan Nasional government had made it compulsory for such selections to be certified by Umno division heads.

“For the record, the reshuffling of imams and mosque committee members has not been carried out. We are only going through the names of those previously suggested as committee members,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He added that the list of names for 2007/ 2010 had yet to be confirmed by the Perak Malay Customs and Religious Council.

According to reports, some committee members had claimed that mosques in Manjung had been taken over by a new line-up while the state had supposedly instructed others to draw up a list of new committee members.

Existing members were also reportedly unhappy that the Pakatan Rakyat state government had failed to discuss the matter of new committee members, imams or bilals with them.

Misbahul expressed his disappointment over news reports that the state government had gone ahead with appointing its own committee members without regard to the Sultan and Regent of Perak.

“The Pakatan Rakyat government has always revered their Royal Highnesses and respected all regulations set by the Council,” he said.

He clarified that the state government would add new names to the list while maintaining some of those suggested by the previous administration.

“We have high hopes that everyone can work together regardless of political beliefs in carrying out mosque activities,” he added.

“By doing so, we can work towards ensuring that all parties are fairly represented in the mosque committees.”