CAIRO,
May 2, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – British Muslims are not willing to
give away their votes so cheaply in the May 5 elections, a prominent
British Muslim activist said on Monday, May 2.
“Muslim
voters are becoming a lot more choosy about who they are going to
support,” Inayat Bunglawala, the media officer of the Muslim Council
of Britain (MCB), told IslamOnline.net by phone from London.
He
said Muslim voters want to see promises being translated into action
plans.
“We
want to see clear policies that will help the community and help
achieve social justice, both in the UK and overseas,” he said.
On
why British Muslim support for the Labour has dramatically fallen,
Bunglawala said it is simply because of the Iraq war.
“The
illegal war against Iraq has indeed shaken many British Muslims out of
their complacencies.”
Before
the war, the Labour controlled all 40 parliamentary seats in districts
where Muslims accounted for 10 percent or more of the population,
according to data from the MCB, the main representative Muslim body in
the UK.
Then
last year it suffered a stinging by-election defeat to the Liberal
Democrats, the only one of the UK's three major political parties to
oppose the war.
Now
the war is rearing its head over the May 5 polls especially after the
emergency of
,
which revealed that Prime Minister Tony Blair had already committed
himself to a regime change in Iraq by force eight months before the
invasion-turned-occupation of the oil-rich Arab country.
“More
Decisive”
Asked
whether the Muslim vote could lead to a change in election course, the
Muslim activist said it will be at least “more decisive”.
“In
the 1997 and 2002 elections, the Labour received the lion share of the
Muslim vote; but now it can’t be taken for granted,” said
Bunglawala, also a Shura member of the Islamic Society of Britain.
“If
the competition is very close, the British Muslim vote will be more
decisive,” he added emphatically.
Bunglawala
said the recent Labour policies have raised questions about the
traditional Muslim loyalty to the party.
But
he added that the Muslim vote could be divided in the upcoming
elections.
“The
Labour is more sympathetic to minority and Muslim issues, but again
the Iraq war and anti-terror laws alienated Muslim voters.
“And
the Liberal Democrats have indeed opposed the war, but they as well
opposed legislation to outlaw religious hatred, and they in addition
are the least supportive of faith schools,” Bunglawala said.
He
said it remains to be seen what will happen on May 5.
Bunglawala
said that Muslim candidates on party slates may have divergent
opinions and motivations.
“But
the sure thing is that they will definitely defend the Muslim issues
in the parliament as they are united on major issues like the Iraq war
and minority rights,” he said.
He
went on: “Labour MP Mohammad Sarwar, for instance, has come under
heavy pressure to support the war but he voted against it at the end
of the day.”
Some
52 Muslims candidates have so far been selected by major parties in
Britain to stand in 41 of the country's 659 parliamentary
constituencies.
The
Liberal Democrats are fielding the most, 20 candidates, the Tories
have selected 13 candidates and the Labour has only eight on its
election list, including two current MPs seeking re-election.
The
nascent Respect party, led by former Labour MP George Galloway, has
selected nine Muslims out of a total of 26 candidates.
Winnable
Seats
 |
|
MCB
Secretary General Iqbal Sacranie speaks to media after a
London
campaign to encourage Muslims to vote. (Reuters)
|
Bunglawala
said it is not a matter of the number of Muslim candidates on election
slates of different parties, but the question is how they can be
placed in winnable seats.
“Only
one Muslim candidate on the Tories slate, Ali Miraj, stands a chance
to win,” he said.
“As
for the Labour, three Muslim candidates on its list stand also a good
chance to make it to the parliament: Sadiq Khan, Shaid Malik and
Yasmin Kureishi.”
Asked
on Respect’s anti-war candidate Salama Yacoub, who could be the
first veiled Muslim woman in the lower house of parliament, Bunglawala
said she is a very good, articulate and talented candidate but
unlikely to win.
“She
is facing a cut-throat competition in her constituency from the Labour
and the Liberal Democrats, which both have fielded Muslim candidates
in her constituency,” he said.
Among
the constituencies with heavy Muslim populations are Bradford West,
Bradford North, Ilford South, Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath,
Leicester South, West and East Ham and Blackburn.
The
Muslim minority in Britain is estimated at some 1.7 million people.
Preoccupations
On
the domestic front, anti-terror laws and state-funded Islamic schools
are key among the preoccupations of the British Muslims in the general
elections.
Thousands
of British Muslims marched Saturday, April 30, in London against
anti-terror laws approved in March by 309 votes to 233 thanks to
Labour’s large majority in the House of Commons.
“These
laws and right-wing media have stigmatized and demonized the Muslim
community in Britain,” Bunglawala said.
He
added that recent studies made more pressing the need for state-funded
Islamic schools on a par with other faith schools.
“Such
studies showed that Muslim students are under-achieving in state-run
schools, but they were getting high marks in Islamic schools,” aid
the activist.
“So
what we are calling for is equality in treatment, given there are only
five state-funded Islamic schools in the country compared to 50 Jewish
schools, mostly in London.”
The
MCB has issued a “vote card” containing the major concerns and
pressing questions that might be posed by Muslim voters to their
prospective candidates.
It
suggests questions like “What positive action would you and your
party take to enable Muslims to achieve equality of opportunity? And
will you promote a foreign policy that is based on justice and
fairness?”
“Ignorant”
On
few British Muslims seeing election as an act of apostasy, Bunglawala
described such statements as “ignorant”.
“Mainstream
Muslim scholars said it is a duty on British Muslims to participate in
the upcoming election not only to secure the interests of Muslims but
also to fulfill the Qur’anic command which says ‘enjoin the good
and forbid the wrong’,” he said.
Bunglawala
noted that the London Muslim Center is hosting a press conference on
Tuesday, May 3, for prominent Muslim scholars from different schools
and trends, the Sunni, the Shiite and the Salafi, on the importance of
the Muslim vote.
“They
will issue a joint statement calling on the British Muslims to vote
and join the parties and become active in those parties, so that
Muslims voice can be heard.”
Bunglawala
said it is high time that the Muslim minority in Britain worked in
unison.
“Jews,
for instance, are making up some 217,000 of the country‘s
population, but they are absolutely more active than Muslims,” he
said.
The
activist added that Jews have 20 MPs in the parliament and in terms of
population percentage, they should have only three MPs.
“We
don’t want Muslims to be a voiceless community in Britain,” he
said.
