KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — The amendments to the Sedition Act 1948 that now limits criticism of religious issues will shut down public discourse on the hudud law, say analysts and politicians.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who heads libertarian think-tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), said people will engage in self-censorship when discussing the controversial Islamic penal code that PAS wants implemented in Kelantan, even if they have no intention of creating ill-will.

“And as a result, you get a law that is not debated despite many people wanting to debate it,” Wan Saiful told Malay Mail Online.

“That is exactly the weakness of any step to curtail freedom of expression. It forces people to accept something without talking about it,” the political analyst added.

The Sedition (Amendment) Bill 2015 that was passed in the lower house of Parliament last Friday makes it an offence to excite “ill will, hostility or hatred” on grounds of religion, aside from maintaining the prohibition on causing such sentiments on racial grounds.

The Bill will now have to be tabled and approved by the upper House or the Senate, which commences on April 13, before it can be gazetted into law.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s Private Members’ Bill for the enforcement of hudud in Kelantan was also presented during the recently-concluded lower House session but was deferred from debate to the next sitting scheduled for May.

As such, without Parliament’s nod, the Islamist party will have to wait before rolling out the controversial Islamic criminal justice system in the east coast state it governs.

PAS’s allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and a number of Barisan Nasional (BN) member parties have so far shown fierce resistance to the proposed law, repeatedly criticising it as unconstitutional and an affront to human rights.

But once the amended Sedition Act comes into effect, such labels may result in jail time for critics of hudud, should its supporters take offence.

“There will definitely be an effective shutout of discussion or debate on the suitability of hudud in our multi-religious society, its flaws and negative impact on justice and its administration,” MCA religious bureau chairman Datuk Ti Lian Ker told Malay Mail Online.

“We should not shut down healthy debates in the name of religion or in the name of sedition. It is unhealthy and undemocratic,” added the MCA central committee member.

Batu MP Chua Tian Chang from PKR, better known as Tian Chua, said the amendments to the colonial-era sedition law would not only curtail public discussion on hudud, but also potentially all forms of dialogue on race and religion.

“It’ll undermine the nature of a multi-ethnic society where dialogue is constantly needed,” Chua told Malay Mail Online.

“Members of the public now will shun away; they won’t dare to forward some article linked to religion because they don’t want to be caught,” he added.

The PKR lawmaker said although other opposition MPs would not likely be afraid to debate hudud, they might merely end up discussing the issue among themselves as the public may not participate.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad from PAS said, however, that the amendments to the Sedition Act will not necessarily curtail public discussion on hudud, as long as such discourse is “well-mannered”.

Khalid said the authorities may not interpret discussions on whether hudud is constitutional as seditious, or whether the Islamic criminal law should be implemented, given the current conditions on economic and social justice.

“But if people are commenting that it’s cruel and barbaric, that might be interpreted as seditious,” Khalid told Malay Mail Online.

“I don’t think people should belittle other people’s religion and religious teachings, but you can argue whether it’s constitutional, whether circumstances are suitable because of so many things which are improper and so on and so forth,” the PAS central working committee member added.

A BFM journalist is under investigation under Section 298 of the Penal Code that prohibits causing ill-will or disharmony on grounds of religion for her presentation of a satirical video last month that questioned the Kelantan government’s priorities in pursuing the implementation of hudud, which imposes punishments like amputation of limbs and the death sentence for crimes like theft and apostasy.