Hudud: Pas Faces Uphill Battle To Get Support From Non-Muslim MPs

(Bernama) – The PAS-led Kelantan government faces an uphill in tabling two private bills in Parliament to enable it to introduce ‘hudud’ due to objections from its allies, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Razali Ibrahim.

He said PAS needed the support of at least 40 non-Muslim members of Parliament the DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to get a two-thirds majority of 148 votes in Parliament to get the bills approved.

Razali, who is also Umno supreme council member, said ironically the number of Muslim MPs was merely 109, of them 30 from PAS and 79 from Umno.

“As the bills got to have the support of MPs from all races, objections from the DAP and PKR must be resolved first,” he told reporters after officiating a new building, Entrepreneurial Day and Student Outstanding Awards at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (Perempuan) Sultan Abu Bakar here yesterday.

The Pas-led Kelantan government, through PAS MPs, plans to table the motions to pave the way for the implementation the Syariah Criminal Code (II) 1993 in the state early next year.

(Hudud refers to specific rules or laws decreed by God with mandatory punishment meted out to those convicted. Punishment for offences are corporal in nature, involving whipping, stoning to death and amputation of limbs).

Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, who is also state hudud technical committee chairman, was quoted as saying that the draft bills were ready except a bit of fine-tuning and the earliest date for the tabling was June.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, DAP publicity chief Tony Pua and PKR vice-president N. Surendran had said in no uncertain term that hudud was not part of the consensus agreed upon by the parties within Pakatan Rakyat and they would oppose the bills.

Razali said apart from being firm in its stand, PAS should seek consensus among its allies, pooh-poohed the party’s claim that it had been able to convince the DAP on Islamic teachings.

“While PAS can rely on Umno MPs for support, I’m not sure of the support of Muslim MPs in PKR,” he added.