'Hadi pulled back Hudud Bill debate to prevent split in BN'

In an unusual move last Thursday, the government had tabled a motion to suspend its business in the Dewan Rakyat in order to fast-track a Private Member's Bill on hudud brought forth by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said would not have moved a motion to prioritise the Hudud Bill without a directive from Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, said DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

Even PAS Youth chief Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz had admitted his party had received cooperation from Umno, without which the Bill would not have been tabled as it was listed as the last item on the order paper.

In another twist of events, Hadi was ironically the one who then asked for the debate on the bill be postponed to the next sitting, even though this bill had waited three parliamentary sittings on the order paper to be tabled.

This seems to be a political move which saw the cooperation of PAS and Umno, but if so, at first it seems to have backfired, as it quickly drew the ire of various BN component parties.

MCA, MIC, Gerakan and SUPP had held a joint press conference vehemently opposing hudud and both MCA and Gerakan presidents, Liow Tiong Lai and Mah Siew Keong respectively, had vowed to quit their ministerial positions if the Hudud Bill passed.

Backlash foreseen

However, Penang Institute fellow Wong Chin Huat said that this is why Hadi requested the debate on his Bill be postponed, as Umno and PAS would have foreseen this backlash.

"Hadi pulled back his Bill so that (Prime Minister) Najib Abdul Razak can pacify his non-Muslim allies.

"If Hadi didn't pull back and it was put to vote, the BN non-Muslim and East Malaysian parliamentarians will have to vote against it.

"There would have been no room for them to accept Najib's 'explanation'. This would formally split BN, which will undermine its morale in the by-elections," Wong said to Malaysiakini today.

Yesterday, after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting, Najib had told reporters that the uproar over the Hudud Bill was a misunderstanding and that he had clarified to the BN component parties.

Hadi's Bill was not about hudud, he had explained, and it was merely to enhance the punishments the Syariah Courts can mete out.

Wong said most of the non-Muslim BN leaders in Peninsular Malaysia - except a small minority - will accept whatever explanation given by Najib as they cannot survive without BN patronage.

Meanwhile, he said, East Malaysian BN politicians who are not from Umno, will downplay the issue by saying hudud is a Peninsular Malaysia problem.

'Friendly matches'

The question that still remains is what did Umno and PAS hope to gain from this move?

This was clearly a collusion meant for the two upcoming by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar as well as beyond that, Wong said.

"Umno and PAS hope to turn the by-elections into friendly matches between them to sideline Pakatan Harapan and (more specifically) Amanah," he said.

He explained that if Pakatan Harapan rejected the Hudud Bill, they will be seen as betraying Islam or controlled by DAP and the non-Muslims.

On the other hand, he said, if the opposition coalition were "wishy-washy" about it, it would alienate the non-Muslims.

"Both Umno and PAS have given up on Chinese and non-Muslim votes in the by-elections, so they don't care," he added.

In the long run, they hope to cause Pakatan Harapan a damaging enough defeat in the hopes that this will force the coalition to disintegrate.

Umno also stands to gain as this Bill can also help divert public attention on the latest developments on 1MDB, Wong pointed out.

For now though, it remains to be seen what will happen to the Hudud Bill, and how far-reaching the effects of it will be, at least until it is debated in the next parliamentary sitting in October.-Mkini