Hudud not part of Pakatan consensus, allies remind PAS

(MM) – PAS can expect to face heavy resistance from its coalition partners in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) if it  proposes a parliamentary motion to push for the implementation of Hudud in Kelantan.

DAP and PKR leaders have issued stern reminders to their political ally that the controversial Islamic penal code was never a part of the consensus among the three parties, either at state or federal level.

“Hudud is not part of Pakatan’s consensus,” DAP publicity chief Tony Pua told The Malay Mail Online.

In Islamic jurisprudence, hudud covers crimes such as theft, robbery, adultery, rape and sodomy.  Punishments for the crimes are severe, including amputation, flogging and death by stoning.

DAP which is the second-largest party in the Dewan Rakyat with 38 MPs does not support the Kelantan government’s proposed private bill on Hudud if it is debated in Parliament, Chua added.

Former DAP national chairman Karpal Singh has also openly criticised the move by the PAS Kelantan government, calling the application of the Islamic penal code unconstitutional and ill-advised.

On March 3, Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob was reported as saying that PAS is planning to propose  a Private Members’ Bill in Parliament, with hopes that it would allow the state to finally enforce hudud laws as early as next January.

In 1993, the PAS state government passed the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment II, but the strict Islamic penal code has not been enforced over the past decade.

Asked to comment, PKR vice-president N. Surendran reminded PAS that PR made its position on Hudud “crystal clear” in 2011.

“All three parties publicly announced that there would be no implementation of hudud unless there is a consensus of all PR parties. There is no such consensus,” Surendran told The Malay Mail Online.

“However, it is the Kelantan government’s democratic right to advocate publicly its aspirations or views on this. We do not silence or crack down on differing views in PR,” the Padang Serai MP added.

Kelantan deputy mentri besar Datuk Mohd Amar Abdullah was reported by Malay daily Sinar Harian as saying on Friday that non-Muslims in the east coast state have the choice in following hudud law or not.

Last November, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said at the party’s annual congress that PAS would go ahead with implementing hudud laws in Kelantan, irrespective of whether the DAP agreed to it or not.

Karpal has maintained that the DAP will not support the implementation of hudud law and that Malaysia should not be turned into an Islamic state.