Hudud and the elusive 39 votes for PAS
It is impossible for PAS to get another 39 votes to pass their private bill on hudud in Parliament
K Pragalath, Free Malaysia Today
From a mathematical perspective, it is impossible for PAS to see its private member bill on hudud in Kelantan passed as the party will need 148 votes when the bill is tabled at the Parliament session in June.
Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yaakob announced his plans to implement hudud in the state after Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom and Kelantan Umno chief and Ketereh MP, Annuar Musa announced that they would support the move.
There are a total of 222 MP’s in the Parliament and for a two third majority vote the number 148 is critical.
For now, PAS can be assured of 109 ‘ayes’ for hudud – a combination of Umno’s 88 and its own 21 votes. It will however still require another 39 votes for the bill to be passed with a two third majority.
The Sabah based Parti Bebas Sabah (PBS), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), MCA, Gerakan and the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) – have all rejected hudud.
Sabah and Sarawak have a combined total of 48 seats in the Dewan Rakyat. PBS has four, UPKO three and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) has one, while there is no MP from LDP. Sabah Umno has 14 seats
In Sarawak, the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) under Chief Minister Adenan Satem has the largest representation with 14 Parliamentary seats.
Former chief minister Taib Mahmud had previously announced that Sarawak would continue to allow the usage of the word ‘Allah’ by Christians in the state and this has been reinforced by Adenan.
It is therefore safe to assume that PBB will oppose the bill. The other Sarawak parties with MPs are Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) with four, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) one and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) with six.
They are expected to follow PBB’s lead in rejecting hudud. MCA with seven seats, Gerakan’s one and MIC with four MPs are also opposing the bill.
“MIC is totally against it. It is not suitable for the country,” MIC secretary general A Prakash Rao said, when contacted today.
