Speaker rejects Amanah's motion to strengthen syariah courts

Parti Amanah Negara's motion to table a Private Member's Bill aimed at strengthening the syariah courts has been rejected by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.

According to Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, Pandikar cited Standing Orders 23 (1)(h) in dismissing the motion, in a letter dated Oct 1.

She questioned why the motion was rejected under that particular standing order as the motion was not a question.

Standing Orders 23 (1)(h), which deals with contents of questions, states that a question "shall not be asked for the purpose of obtaining an expression of opinion, the solution of an abstract legal case or the answer to a hypothetical proposition".

"The reason given had to do with questions. My motion was from Standing Orders 27.

"So this is not the real reason for my motion being rejected," she told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

However, the Amanah Wanita chief said she would not be appealing the decision.

"There's no use for me to appeal because the speaker will say the decision is final," she said.

On Oct 17, Amanah announced that it had already submitted the motion to table the bill to the Parliament secretariat.

The party said the bill could serve as an alternative to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act or Act 355.

But Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad also said the differences between the two bills was that Amanah's was not about Act 355.

The party had added it would only reveal the contents of the bill once it is tabled in the Dewan Rakyat. -Mkini