KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom has been asked to clarify Putrajaya’s position that Malaysia is not a secular state, after opposition lawmakers tabled a motion today demanding he retract his statement.

Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee said he will refer the motion to Jamil Khir’s office to seek an explanation on his claim that the country was formed based on the Islamic administration of the Malay Sultanates and that the Malay Sultans were heads of Islam in their respective states.

“I will refer the matter to the minister’s office, and we will wait for them to respond as per the normal practice,” he told DAP’s Sibu MP Oscar Ling Chai Yew, who tabled the motion at the end of question time.

Ling table the motion under Standing Order 36(12), which is used to refer a parliamentarian to the Rights and Privileges Committee for misleading the House.

Ling argued that Jamil’s description of the basis for Malaysia’s formation was wrong as it referred to the formation of Malaya in 1957 and not Malaysia under the Malaysia Agreement in 1963.

He stressed that three of the four signatories of the Malaysia Agreement — Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak — did not have a state religion and this was further reinforced by the 18-point and 20-point agreements drawn up by Sarawak and Sabah respectively.

The motion demands that Jamil Khir retract his statement on the formation of Malaysia and “correct” the federal government’s position to state that Malaysia is a secular state based on the Malaysia Agreement.

Yesterday, Jamil Khir declared that Malaysia is not a secular state, amid the ongoing debate on the possible introduction of hudud into the nation’s legal system.

The minister in charge of Islamic affairs said that this position was reinforced by several constitutional provisions, which includes Article 3 which places Islam as the religion of the federation.

Jamil Khir’s assertion works against a key argument against the implementation of Islamic criminal law here, although he stopped short of declaring that Malaysia is an Islamic state.

The hudud issue resurfaced earlier this year, following talk that a few PAS lawmakers had intended to table a private member’s bill in Parliament to debate the implementation of Islamic criminal law.

The Kelantan state assembly passed a bill to implement hudud in the state in 1993, but it has been put on hold until now as was considered to be in conflict with the Federal Constitution.