Brunei’s imposition of harsh sharia laws, including death by stoning for gay sex and adultery, is a bid by the country’s ruler to boost support among conservatives and highlights a steady drift away from the West, observers say.
The tough punishments, which also include amputation of a hand and foot for theft, will come into force Wednesday when a new penal code is fully implemented after years of delays.
The decision to move ahead with the laws has sparked a global outcry, with the United Nations branding them “cruel and inhumane” and actor George Clooney leading calls for Brunei-owned hotels to be boycotted.
By making his country the first in East or Southeast Asia to introduce a sharia penal code on a national level, analysts believe all-powerful Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is seeking to burnish his Islamic credentials among conservative supporters at a time the economy is weakening.
Brunei, a resource-rich former British protectorate on Borneo island with a population of about 400,000, was plunged into recession in recent years as oil prices plummeted and its crude reserves declined.
“Brunei is becoming Southeast Asia’s Saudi Arabia,” Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert from John Cabot University, told AFP.
“The regime has increasingly been relying on religious legitimacy, appealing to a conservative Islamic ideology. The weakening economy in Brunei as well as concerns about possible erosion of support underscore this increasing reliance on religion.”
The Muslim-majority nation’s implementation of punishments that may scare off Western businesses also signals a shift towards investment from China, which typically refrains from criticising trading partners on human rights, observers said.
As in many other parts of Asia, Chinese companies are investing huge sums in the absolute monarchy, part of an infrastructure drive aimed at extending Beijing’s economic and geopolitical clout.
Initiatives include a multi-billion-dollar oil refinery — Brunei’s biggest ever foreign investment project — a dam and a highway. Xi Jinping visited the country in November last year, the first trip by a Chinese president in 13 years.
Experts say it is hard to gauge the level of public backing for sharia law in Brunei, as most citizens would not publicly voice criticism of the sultan.
But it is believed to have substantial support among the country’s Muslim ethnic Malays, who make up some 70 percent of the population. Those who speak publicly generally welcome it.
