Back private member’s Bill if you want PAS’s support, Hadi tells Dr M
(MMO) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad must support PAS’s Shariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 amendments if he wanted the Islamist party to back his new party, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said today.
The PAS president said that this will be the litmus test for Dr Mahathir’s new party as well as any other opposition party if they wanted to form any alliance with PAS.
“The Private Members Bill that will be tabled will be a very good ‘yardstick.’
“We will see if he supports it not not, this private member’s bill is to upgrade the Shariah Court. It is the right of Muslims and has nothing to do with non-Muslims,” he said in an interview with Harakah Daily when asked to comment on Dr Mahathir’s plans to form a new party.
“If there are those who oppose it, we (PAS) will oppose them too. Including Umno or DAP or PKR… that is the closest and most up-to-date yardstick,” Hadi added.
After several failed attempts, Hadi finally managed to table his Bill in Parliament back in May to amend the Shariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.
Critics have labelled it the “hudud Bill” and expressed concern that its passage will open the way for PAS to enforce its version of Islamic penal laws in Kelantan, which they argue to be against the Federal Constitution, the country’s supreme law.
However Umno and PAS have both insisted that the Bill is not for hudud and restricted only to Kelantan.
It was this same issue that caused the demise of former opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat after then-ally DAP refused to work with PAS should the latter continue to push for the implementation of the Islamic Penal Code.
While PKR maintained a working relationship with PAS, the latter was not included in the Pakatan Harapan coalition and was instead replaced with splinter party Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) which consists of ousted PAS progressives.
However on Wednesday, PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man mooted a “ceasefire” between his party and Pakatan Harapan — which comprises PKR, the DAP and Amanah — after the by-elections in Perak and Selangor last month saw Barisan Nasional (BN) winning with overwhelming majorities due to PAS and Amanah splitting the votes.
The very next day, however, Hadi issued a statement saying that a such a truce was only viable should the interests of Islam not be infringed upon by any of the opposition parties.
