Sarawak MPs to stand united in opposing PAS chief’s controversial Bill in Parliament
KUCHING: State MPs from both political sides will transcend their differences to stand united in rejecting the Private Member’s Bill seeking to amend Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, tol be tabled in Parliament by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang in the October session.
State Barisan Nasional ( BN) secretary- general Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi said a blanket order would be issued to all BN MPs to vote against the passing of the controversial Bill.
Speaking to The Borneo Post yesterday, Dr Rundi said the state would do its utmost to oppose the Bill.
“Our stand from day one since PAS implemented the hudud law in Kelantan is clear — that hudud law will never be implemented in Sarawak as it is a multi- racial state,” he added.
Dr Rundi added that the state BN had discussed the matter and arrived at a unanimous decision to reject hudud law in Sarawak because it would disrupt the state’s social fabric and could lead to disharmony among the people.
“It is mentioned in the Chief Minister ( Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem) ’ s 53 list of initiatives. He has made it clear it ( hudud law) wouldn’t be implemented in Sarawak,” he said.
PRS president Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing, when contacted, said the party’s MPs would without doubt vote against it because the passing of the Bill would ‘wreck this nation’.
“We will vote against the Bill when it is tabled in October. Hopefully PAS would come to their senses by October 2016 and withdraw the Bill,” he said.
Meanwhile, PKR vice president See Chee How said the party’s only MP in Sarawak Dr Michael Teo would defi nitely vote against the passing of the Bill.
“We have discussed with Dr Teo about this and it is Sarawak PKR’s stand that we are against the Bill,” said See.
He said there were many reasons for the party to come to the conclusion, but the main reason was that the state PKR would not allow the Bill to be passed to prevent the implementation of hudud law in the future.
“If this Bill is passed, it would gain a foothold which would one day pave the way for hudud law to be implemented in Sarawak,” said See.
He said BN and DAP MPs should also vote against the Bill to truly safeguard the religious freedom in Sarawak.
Sarawak, the largest state in Malaysia, holds 31 out of the total 222 parliamentary seats.
Out of the 31, BN holds 25 while the opposition has six.
The Hudud Amendment Bill was the last item on last Thursday’s Parliamentary Order List, but Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman moved a motion to bring the debate forward, which was approved by the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.
However, Hadi Awang requested that the debate be deferred to next Parliamentary meeting in October as Thursday was the last day of the current meeting.
The proposal sought to amend the Syariah Court Act ( Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965 to increase the ambit of punishment that the Islamic court could mete out.