Kelantan grateful public caning accepted by people
KOTA BARU: The Kelantan government is grateful that its efforts to introduce public caning in the state had received full support from many quarters, including the Federal Government.
Speaker Datuk Abdullah Ya’kub said this was despite an earlier effort to introduce hudud years ago that was prevented by a former prime minister, who said the hudud or the state Syariah Criminal Code II 1993 was against the Federal Constitution.
He said the former prime minister not only prevented the Pasled government from implementing hudud but also threatened to take action against the state government if it did not follow the order.
Abdullah said this happened after the hudud law was approved in the state assembly in 1993.
“We (the state government) did not know what ‘action’ the former planned to take against us, but the then menteri besar, the late Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, had advised us to follow his directive.
“The menteri besar said although we could not practise hudud then, we could find other syariah laws that can be implemented. This time, we have received excellent support for public caning from all quarters, including the Federal Government,” he said.
On the latest move on public caning, Abdullah said the draft of the enactment would be sent soon to acting Sultan of Kelantan Tengku Dr Muhammad Faiz Petra for his assent.
“The draft is now at the state legal adviser’s office for it to be finalised and once completed, will be handed over to the palace for approval before it can be gazetted and enforced in Kelantan,” he said.