Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s U-turn last week over his support for the controversial Syariah Bill signalled his opening gambit in Malaysia’s high drama of political survival ahead of the coming general election.

Initiated by the opposition Islamist Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), the Bill to upgrade Syariah punishments was supposed to be supported by his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

Mr Najib himself had said just four months ago that it was the responsibility of Muslims to support PAS’ move, which many believe to be part of the party’s broader push to implement hudud — or Islamic criminal law — in Kelantan.

… Yang Razali Kassim is a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.