Hadi cannot ignore anti-hudud noise, DAP MP says

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang should stop and listen to the argument against his party’s hudud plans instead of labelling his detractors anti-Islam, DAP MP M. Kulasegaran said.

The Ipoh Barat MP refuted claims that his party was interfering in Islamic affairs, saying that its opposition to the Islamic criminal justice system was because it contravenes the Federal Constitution.

“DAP is not anti-Islam or any religion. We accept and respect that Islam is the official religion of the federation.

“While we respect Islam and the position of hudud in Islam, our consistent position is that implementation of hudud laws is against the Federal Constitution and not suitable in a plural society like Malaysia,” he said in a statement.

The DAP leader was responding to Hadi who had during an event in Kuala Kangsar reportedly accused the secular party of interfering in matters related to Islam.

Kulasegaran added that Hadi should himself understand the principles of the country’s highest laws before pursuing plans to expand the range of punishments by Shariah courts.

“Hadi must not ignore the fact that there have also been voices of objections from Muslim Malaysians on hudud implementation,” Kulasegaran pointed out.

The DAP man also questioned whether Abdul Hadi’s Shariah courts Bill was part of a ploy to assist Umno in diverting public attention away from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue.

“In fact, Hadi should explain why his plot with Umno to have his Private Member’s Bill to enhance Shariah system prioritised in Parliament was not a ploy to help Umno divert Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar voters’ attention from the 1MDB scandals,” Kulasegaran said.

Hadi’s Bill unexpectedly made it to Dewan Rakyat last month after an Umno minister proposed to elevate it in Parliament’s agenda, which Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia approved after saying it would otherwise never have “seen the light of day”.

Umno’s role in elevation of the Bill, which Hadi later deferred, drew complaints from its Barisan Nasional partners, whose leaders said they would quit if the proposed amendments are passed.

The private member’s Bill proposes to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 and empower Shariah courts to enforce punishments other than the death penalty.

Umno has insisted that the Bill is not the hudud Islamic penal code, but simply an upgrade of the Shariah courts’ powers to hand out harsher sentences.