Cabinet did not discuss RUU 355 Bill, says Liow

PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet did not discuss the Federal Governmentled Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act amendments at its meeting, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

“There’s no new development on the RUU 355 Bill. It was not brought up in today’s meeting,” he said when met at his ministry yesterday.

The MCA president said the party’s stance on the Bill has been made clear to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“MCA has already engaged the Chinese community and we have made our views known to the Prime Minister on the issue.

“We are against the RUU 355 Bill which is proposed by Hadi (PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang) as it goes against the spirit of the Federal Constitution,” said Liow.

Later, Liow had a private meeting at his office to discuss the RUU 355 issue, which was attended by MCA heads and Chinese associations.

Among those present were MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, MCA secretarygeneral Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan and representatives of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia, Federation of Hokkien Associations Malaysia and the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia.

MCA is expected to issue a statement on the meeting later.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister and Umno vicepresident Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said the Government itself would be tabling the RUU 355 Bill in Parliament.

The proposed amendments were first put forward by Abdul Hadi through a Private Member’s Bill last year.

The amendments have been listed seventh in the Order Paper of the current Parliament meeting.