KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — PAS asked former ally Pakatan Harapan (PH) today to allow it to table the party’s Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, which caused the disintegration of Pakatan Rakyat.

PAS Syura Council secretary Datuk Nik Muhammad Zawawi Nik Salleh told Utusan Online that his party hoped the new government would also give it adequate coverage to publicly explain the controversial Bill.

He insisted that PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s Bill was not politically driven, but sought by all Muslims who want to see Islamic laws enhanced.

"PAS is merely a vehicle entrusted by Allah to complete this task. That’s why we are asking the new government to give us a better chance (to explain the Bill), compared to Umno and BN previously, so that the Bill can become a reality.

"This chance should go beyond an opportunity to bring this matter to the Parliament, but also to publicly explain it on mainstream media, including broadcasting it on television, for instance, so that we can give the best possible explanation to the people, especially the non-Muslims,” he was quoted as saying.

Hadi’s Bill has made it into Parliament’s Order Papers seven additional times since former minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said elevated it above government matters in 2016.

Despite making it to the Dewan Rakyat, the Bill has never been debated and Hadi consistently opted for a delay when given the opportunity to do so.

PAS initially positioned the Bill as necessary to enable it to enforce dormant state enactments for hudud law in Kelantan, but later backtracked and insisted it was simply to enhance Shariah sentencing powers.

The Islamist party’s insistence on the law in 2015 caused it to fall out with DAP, which then decided to end the informal Pakatan Rakyat pact after hostilities escalated.

Hadi is proposing to increase the Shariah courts’ sentencing limits to 30 years’ jail, a RM100,000 fine and 100 lashes, up from the current three years’ jail, RM5,000 fine and six lashes.