KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 ― There is no necessity for Malaysia to implement hudud as the country is already living up to the precepts of Islam, an Umno man said today.

Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said that it is sufficient that ruling administration is adhering to the precepts of Islam by developing the country and according women fair rights.

“In Kelantan you can't even watch a movie with your girlfriend. You have to sit in separate sections. I don't think that's being fair to the women,” he said at a news conference after chairing a Public Accounts Committee hearing.

“Focus on developing Islam, not punishing Muslims which is what is happening today,” he added.

This morning, the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly unanimously passed amendments to the Syariah Criminal Code II 1993 to pave for for the controversial implementation of hudud laws in the state.

The amendments are to go in tandem with a plan by PAS federal lawmakers to table a private member's bill in Parliament seeking to amend the Federal Constitution to allow hudud to be incorporated into Kelantan's shariah laws.

Nur Jazlan today claimed that the private member's bill would likely be scrapped by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, arguing that what the Islamist party is pushing for does not jive with the country's apex law.

“At the federal level, it (hudud) is inconsistent with the Federal Constitution... any private member's bill that goes against the Constitution will be rejected,” he claimed.

Asked what position Umno MPs should take if the private member's bill sees the light of day, Nur Jazlan said all MPs should “vote by your conscience”.

“Religious issues tend to cause disunity, which is why we should not make religion as a priority to set the national agenda.

“If we were to amend the Constitution to become something that was not envisioned by Bapa Kemerdekaan, then we are destroying that dream,” he said, referring to the country's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman.

“Let Malaysia be a moderate country, that can interact with the rest of the world,” Nur Jazlan added.