KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — The Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal denied today issuing any statement on Kelantan’s hudud plan, and is seeking a police investigation into the matter.
In a statement quoted by Bernama, Datuk Seri Syed Danial Syed Ahmad said a report has been lodged at the Jalan Travers police station.
“The Conference of Rulers has never discussed the matter at its meetings.
“The office (of the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal) did not issue a press statement dated March 25 on the matter,” he reportedly said.
Online news portal The Malaysian Insider carried a report yesterday claiming the Conference of Rulers had rejected Kelantan’s proposed amendments to a federal law meant to enable the enforcement of hudud.
A Kelantan government leader, however, disputed the article.
Datuk Mohd Takiyuddin Hassan, who is head of Kelantan’s permanent secretariat on hudud, said yesterday he was informed by Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakob that the state’s hudud plans were never presented to the royal council in the first place.
He went on to point out that the implementation of hudud in Kelantan had already received blessings from the royal institution as far back as 1993 when the state’s Shariah Criminal Code II enactment was passed.
Hours after the article was published, a statement purportedly by the Council began circulating on social media.
The statement allegedly quoted a spokesperson from the Conference of Rulers refuting The Malaysian Insider’s article as false and erroneous.
Earlier today, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will investigate the matter.
The minister said the Conference of Rulers did not issue any official statement to refute a news report by an online news portal on the hudud issue.
On March 19, PAS-ruled Kelantan passed key amendments to its Shariah Criminal Code II 1993 in a move to enable the eventual implementation of hudud in the Malay-majority east coast state.
Hadi last week served notice to Parliament on the proposed Bill, but BN’s de facto law minister Datuk Nancy Shukri said it may not make it into the order paper for the current session as there are many others on the schedule.
With DAP and PKR’s rejection, PAS and its 21 MPs in the lower house must rely on all of Umno’s MPs plus more from other non-Muslim parties in order to get a simple majority of 112 votes to get the Bill passed.
