KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 ― Under pressure from its political allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the PAS-led Kelantan government has agreed to first explain its hudud plans for the state to all federal lawmakers before seeking parliamentary approval.
Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said the proposed Private Member’s Bill to enforce hudud in Kelantan is ready to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat but still needs the state’s final approval.
“Once all state executive councillors agree with the draft, only then we will proceed with the next course of action, which is to explain the matter to all elected representatives and perhaps to the public as well,” he was quoted by Malay daily Sinar Harian as saying at a function in Kelantan yesterday.
State Umno chief Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed reportedly said on Sunday that the Kelantan government needs to give a detailed explanation on why it is moving the Bill through Parliament to enforce hudud in the state.
The Umno minister was quoted in The Star Online as saying that the Islamist party would likely face heavy objection from both Muslim and non-Muslim federal lawmakers if it does not explain its reason for introducing the controversial Islamic penal code.
The proposal for the Bill has come under heavy fire from PAS’s PR partners DAP and PKR, who have reminded the party that hudud was never a part of PR’s consensus, whether at state or federal level.
On March 3, Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob was reported as saying that PAS will propose a Private Members’ Bill in Parliament, with hopes that it would allow the state to finally enforce hudud laws as early as next January.
In Islamic jurisprudence, hudud covers crimes such as theft, robbery, adultery, rape, sodomy, making unproven accusations of adultery, causing physical hurt, drinking intoxicants, apostasy, and acts contrary to Islamic belief.
The law is generally confined to Muslims, but can extend to non-Muslims if they are involved in aiding or abetting an offence committed by a Muslim.
At its annual congress in November last year, PAS revisited its bid to revise federal law to enable the nationwide enforcement of the strict Islamic penal code, which it had buried previously in the run-up to Election 2013.
The Islamist party introduced hudud in Kelantan and Terengganu, but has not been able to enforce them due to the conflict with the federal constitution.
Political rival Umno has capitalised on PAS’ failure to enforce hudud in a bid to shore up support among the country’s dominant Malay-Muslim voters, claiming the party had strayed from its plan to form an Islamic state.
But both Umno and PAS face strong resistance from their coalition partners over the enforcement of hudud, which argued it will turn Malaysia into an Islamic theocracy and dilute the country’s image as a multi-religious nation.
