KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told his party's annual congress Thursday that Malaysia's constitution will not be changed to declare the country an Islamic state, saying it is already run on Muslim principles.
The statement could ease fears among this Southeast Asian nation's large non-Muslim minority — mostly ethnic Chinese and Indians who follow Christianity, Buddhism or Hinduism — that Mahathir wishes to impose an Islamic regime. Mahathir raised those concerns earlier this year when he called Malaysia an Islamic state.
The issue is connected to Mahathir's efforts to compete with his party's main opponents, the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party, or PAS, for support among Malay Muslims, who comprise about 60 percent of the country's 23 million people.
In a two-hour address, Mahathir insisted that his party — the United Malays National Organization, which is noted for affirmative action policies to improve the lives of Malay Muslims — is the true champion of Islam.
"The debate on Malaysia as a Muslim country need not go on," Mahathir said. "There is no necessity to amend the constitution to make Malaysia a Muslim country."
The constitution, in effect since independence from Britain in 1957, enshrines Islam as the country's official religion but guarantees a secular government.
Mahathir's UMNO party has formed the core of every government since independence. Malaysia's politics are based largely on race, and UMNO rules with Chinese and Indian junior partners in a coalition.
The fundamentalists made large gains in elections in 1999, a year after Mahathir alienated many Malay Muslims by firing and jailing his popular deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.
Support for the fundamentalist PAS has ebbed since Sept. 11. Authorities have arrested scores of suspected Islamic extremists — some of them PAS members — for alleged involvement in groups plotting terror attacks and seeking to establish a hardline state in Muslim areas of Southeast Asia.
Speculation has been building that Mahathir could call elections a year early in 2003 to capitalize on UMNO's restored popularity.
"I will tell you when I make a decision," Mahathir told a news conference Thursday.
Mahathir, 76, who has presided over Malaysia for 21 years, has increasingly challenged PAS demands for the creation of an Islamic state by saying one already exists.
Mahathir contends that Islam is based on justice and tolerance and that the current system is truly Islamic by being fair and open-minded.
This has led to a debate with the fundamentalist party over who is more Islamic.
When Mahathir called Malaysia an Islamic state earlier this year, many non-Muslims objected. Veteran opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, whose support comes mostly from ethnic Chinese and Indians, was briefly held by police recently after handing out leaflets urging Mahathir to retract the statement.
"We are not moderate Muslims," Mahathir said Thursday. "We are Muslim fundamentalists, that is, we try to hold to the basic teachings of Islam."
The PAS-led government of Terengganu, one of two of Malaysia's 13 states the party controls, plans to introduce a bill next month to enact harsh religious laws. Mahathir says the central government will not allow them to be enforced.
Among other things, the laws require four witnesses to support an accusation of rape. A woman making a false accusation could be whipped up to 80 times.
Mahathir said his detractors should note "that the Islamic world looks up to Malaysia and openly regards Malaysia as an Islamic state they would openly like to emulate."
Ling Liong Sik, leader of the Malaysian Chinese Association, a party in the governing coalition, said that Malaysia was already recognized as an Islamic country by international organizations.
"We will never amend the constitution," Ling said. "We are what we are — a liberal, democratic Islamic state allowing everybody to flourish. We never felt unassured."