GEORGE TOWN, May 8 — The Penang Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government will not allow hudud to be implemented in the state, said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

He also reiterated his stand as the DAP secretary-general that the party does not agree to the implementation of the Islamic penal law.

“I am saying this not only as a DAP leader but also as the Penang chief minister and our stand is firm, we will not allow hudud to be implemented here,” he said in a press conference this morning after officiating the Padang Brown hawker complex upgrading project.

The Penang lawmaker then demanded to know what was Penang Barisan Nasional’s stand on hudud.

“We want to know what is the Penang BN chairman’s position on hudud,” Lim said.

The newly reappointed Penang BN chief Teng Chang Yeow has so far not made any public remarks about the hudud issue.

When contacted, he dodged the topic by stating that since BN was not the governing party in Penang, the question of where it stands on hudud does not arise at all.

“Can the Penang government ask the Penang religious affairs council (Mainpp) to withdraw its stand in supporting the implementation of hudud?” Teng asked in return.

Last month, the Mainpp president Datuk Salleh Man had issued a brief statement supporting the implementation of hudud.

The PAS Permatang Pasir state assemblyman stated his full support to his party’s intention to implement the controversial Islamic law but stated that the public had largely misunderstood the hudud.

The hudud debate has become a hot button issue of late ever since PAS announced its intention to propose two private member’s bills to allow hudud in Kelantan.

DAP had repeatedly stood firm against the implementation of the Islamic penal code which it maintained was against the federal constitution while PAS was adamant in implementing it in Kelantan.

Some Umno MPs have come out saying they are not opposed to hudud with the minister in charge of religious affairs, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom saying Putrajaya is ready to give the green light for the implementation of hudud in any state in the country.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said he is not opposed to hudud.