Wanita PKR chief agrees to hudud but not for immediate implementation

The Mole

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Zuraida agrees to the implementation but with a caveat - not immediately (Graphics by: Dayang Norazhar/The Mole)

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Keadilan Rakyat Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin says she agrees with the implementation of hudud in Kelantan but disagrees with an in immediate enforcement.

Stressing that there must be a process before the implementation, Zuraida said:

“As a Muslim I agree with the implementation of hudud. But there must be a process of awareness and education on the fundamentals of hudud laws to the public. I therefore cannot agree on its immediate enforcement”

Zuraida said this when asked to comments on the issue regarding the implementation of the Islamic penal code in Kelantan that has been an on-going topic over the past week.

She said it was crucial for the masses to be educated about the fundamentals of hudud through the media before its implementation and said she had proposed on the idea before but was ignored.

Zuraida also blamed Barisan Nasional for ‘beating around the bush’ on the issue and had urged their members to seriously look into it instead of abandoning their responsibility and pointing fingers at PKR.

She also echoed veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's comments on the issue that the Federal Government would have to amend the constitution first to allow hudud to be enforced in Kelantan.

Another PKR leader, vice-president Tian Chua in a text message to The Mole had said: “Hudud is a discourse of Muslim scholars and legal experts. The discussion will continue.”

Prior to this, BN's MP for Ketereh Tan Sri Annuar Musa had said that Kelantan BN would consider the implementation of hudud in the state if Pas and PKR fully agreed to it first.

He had called on PKR to make the first move to prove that they were in accord with Pas on hudud in Kelantan.

“It will be odd if Pas asks Barisan to support hudud while its ally PKR does not agree to it,”  he was quoted in a news report.

Pas vice-president and Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar had prior to that proposed that Annuar to step in to convince the Federal Government to allow hudud‘s implementation in Kelantan.

Meanwhile it was reported that the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim who is also in charge of parliamentary affairs, had said he was prepared to back a motion to debate hudud in Parliament.

PKR's MP for Kuantan Fuziah Salleh said Kelantan could only start to enforce hudud after the Federal Constitution is amended.

“So to amend, we need a majority vote. The hudud enactment in Kelantan cannot be implemented as long as the Constitution is not amended.”

“So, if the minister said so, we welcome it…we debate,” she was quoted as saying in a news report by Sinar Harian yesterday.

In another news report, the Kelantan Syarie Chief Judge, Datuk Daud Muhammad said that the Syariah Court of Kelantan is ready for the implementation of hudud if the state government under Pas' leadership is able to enforce its legislation.

“InsyaAllah (God willing), Kelantan is able to implement hudud. The law is already there and if there’s a need for more judges, we will add,” he was quoted as saying.