KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — The Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership has yet to make a collective decision for its members to vote on PAS private member’s Bill to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, Umno information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa said today.
He added that MPs were also free to vote according to their conscience on the Bill tabled by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang in the Dewan Rakyat last week.
“On the Barisan Nasional level, we have not received any orders from the party. We have not decided on our stand as yet and we will decide when the time comes,” he told reporters here.
Annuar also said BN MPs were not forced to follow the party Whip’s call and could support, reject or even abstain from casting their vote when the time comes.
“We have many options," he said. The Umno surpreme council member indicated that MPs were also free to cast their votes in envelopes by way of secret ballot in the House.
“We can let Barisan Nasional members vote according to their conscience because it is a private member’s Bill, not a government Bill,” he said.
Last Thursday, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia approved Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said’s motion to elevate Hadi’s Bill in the Parliament’s agenda, saying it would otherwise never have “seen the light of day”.
However, Hadi asked to defer the Bill to the next parliamentary meeting in October.
Several BN component parties have since voiced their objection, with MCA, MIC and Gerakan leaders threatening to quit their Cabinet positions if the Bill was passed.
