KOTA BARU, March 18 — Umno as a Malay-Muslim party has the obligation to support the Kelantan PAS government’s plan to roll out hudud in the state and will do so when the state legislative assembly goes to vote on the Shariah Criminal Code Enactment II tomorrow.

The party’s Kok Lanas assemblyman Datuk Md Alwi Che Ahmad also said he supports PAS in its call on non-Muslims not to interfere in the hudud debate as the matter only concerns Muslims.

“We as Muslims have the duty to embrace hudud as this is a law given to us by Allah. We will support it. Umno will.

“Even back in 1993 when the enactment was still choppy and not as fine-tuned as today, we had supported it,” he told reporters before the hudud bill was tabled earlier this morning.

The Kok Lanas lawmaker, however, did not state if Umno will support PAS’ plan at the national level but said as far as the state is concerned, the Malay nationalist party was “100 per cent” behind its archrivals.

This morning, the Kelantan PAS government tabled amendments to the state’s Shariah Criminal Code Enactment 1993, which will later be presented in Parliament for approval.

PAS previously said one of its federal lawmakers would submit two private member’s Bills to seek amendments to the Federal Constitution that would allow Kelantan to enforce hudud.

But PAS’ allies DAP have opposed such a move on grounds that hudud violates the country’s supreme law, and warned that the opposition coalition would collapse should the Islamist party insist on implementing the Islamic penal code.

It is also uncertain if Umno will actually support the move in Parliament. Earlier today, one of senior lawmakers Tan Sri Shahrir Samad said Umno has not directed its MPs in Parliament to vote for PAS’ hudud plans in Kelantan.

Critics of hudud argue that the law is rife with legal loopholes that could lead to unfairness in meting out justice.

One example cited is that the burden of proof in relation to rape is on the victim and failure to do so would result in a heavy penalty for the complainant.

As seen in countries that enforce hudud such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, rights groups noted that victims of rape often ended up being criminalised for libel while their rapists escaped punishment.

Despite this, PAS maintained that hudud would ensure that justice would be served effectively.