KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — The Kelantan chapter of MCA today denied that all Barisan Nasional (BN) parties in the state supported hudud, disputing chairman Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed’s declaration that the coalition backed the Islamic penal code.

The state’s MCA deputy chairman Tan Ken Tan confirmed that Kelantan’s BN leaders met to discuss the hudud issue in early February, but said the state-level coalition did not arrive at a conclusion then.

“BN Kelantan has discussed the matter, but no decision was taken,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted today, saying that more discussions on hudud were due but “never took place”.

Yesterday, national news agency Bernama reported Mustapa as saying that Kelantan BN is “consistent” with its decision to back PAS’ private member’s bills in Parliament. Mustapa is both the Kelantan BN chief and Kelantan Umno chief.

But Tan told Malay Mail Online: “This is a unilateral decision by Umno. It’s not BN.”

Tan said the actions of 12 Umno lawmakers yesterday — who voted in the Kelantan state assembly to help push through amendments to the state’s 1993 law on hudud — only reflected their party’s own stand.

Yesterday, Bernama reported Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed as saying that Kelantan BN is ‘consistent’ with its decision to back PAS’ private member’s bills in Parliament. — Bernama pic

He reaffirmed MCA’s stand against the rolling out of the strict Islamic criminal laws in Kelantan.

“MCA definitely will not support (hudud), not only at the Kelantan level, at the national level,” he said.

Tan said that Kelantan MCA will “definitely” ask its fellow party members who are MPs to vote against the two Parliament bills that would allow hudud to be enforced, saying it has become a national issue.

For now, Kelantan MCA is observing developments on the hudud issue and will “consider legal action” with the aid of the party headquarters, Tan said.

When contacted today, Kelantan MIC chief M. Kuppusamy declined to comment, saying he would need to consult with his party president first.

PAS now plans to put forward two private members’ bills in Parliament to enable Kelantan to enforce hudud ― one will seek approval for the state to legislate punishment for crimes under the Penal Code.

The other will seek to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal) Jurisdiction Act 1965 to enable Islamic courts to mete out punishments like the death penalty for apostasy and the amputation of limbs for theft, as the law currently limits the punishments that Shariah courts can impose to imprisonment.

PAS has said it only needs a simple majority in Parliament, or 112 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal) Jurisdiction Act.

PAS holds 21 seats in Parliament while Umno has 88 MPs, all of which, with the exception of deputy speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee, are Muslims. Even if both parties throw their support behind the two bills, they are still four seats short.

PKR has 15 Muslim MPs and the DAP has two.