KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — All Malaysians should be allowed to freely discuss PAS's bid to enhance Shariah court powers given its acknowledgement that the proposal would apply to every state and not just Kelantan, said MCA's Religious Harmony Bureau.

Chairman Datuk Ti Lian Ker added that proponents of the bid must not restrict others from discussing the proposal by citing religious authority, saying the law would inevitably influence the lives of all Malaysians and not just Muslims.

“The assurances that PAS hudud is strictly the domain and duty of Muslims have already been disputed by renowned Islamic jurists and thus we must tread carefully and not be cowed or bullied into succumbing to PAS’s political agenda by invoking their authority of Islam,” he said in a statement.

Ti argued that a proposal of such far-reaching consequence should not have come in the form of a private member's Bill, but from the government and only after a comprehensive study on the impact on the lives of all citizens.

The committee studying the possible implementation of hudud in Malaysia should also include experts from all affected parties, Ti said when pointing out that there was a multitude of issues to be considered before the Islamic penal code should even be proposed.

The ruling Barisan Nasional should also not have supported such a Bill even if it was for political advantage, he added.

“Any amendments to our federal laws having such potential grave consequences,  implications and impact on the average man, woman and child in the street will  ultimately change the face of our legal system.

“This will definitely affect our legal institutional demarcation of powers and balances that guarantee us peace and harmony,” he said.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang last month tabled his Bill to amend the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 and allow Islamic courts to impose any penalty save for the death sentence.

He managed to present his Bill that has repeatedly failed to make it into Dewan Rakyat after Umno minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said successfully proposed to elevate it in Parliament's agenda.

Umno and PAS have both insisted that the Bill is not for hudud and restricted only to Kelantan.

Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah revealed, however, that the true intention of Hadi's Bill is not simply to enhance the punitive powers of the east coast state’s Islamic courts but to ensure the same for all states nationwide.

Critics such as former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Rahim Noor also said that while the Bill was not hudud per se, it would enable the Islamic penal code to be implemented once the Shariah courts' powers are upgraded.