Hadi’s bill not a crucial election issue, PH told

KUALA LUMPUR: PPBM supreme council member Tariq Ismail has advised Pakatan Harapan to take its mind off PAS’ controversial proposal to enhance the powers of the shariah courts and concentrate instead on issues of daily concern to voters.

Stressing that he was expressing his personal opinion and not his party’s, he said Pakatan, if at all it wanted to address the issue, should inform voters that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill, if passed as law, would be of no benefit to anyone.

Tariq was speaking at a forum to discuss the implications of three-corner fights in the coming general election.

Hadi’s bill, commonly known as RUU355, appears in the latest order paper of the Dewan Rakyat, which begins its new sitting tomorrow. It is listed as Number 5 among items to be raised after the dispensation of government bills.

Tariq said he understood that Hadi had good intentions for the Muslim community and he acknowledged that RUU355 had some merits, but he argued that the question of giving the shariah courts more powers was less important than the everyday concerns of the public.

“It’s the GST and the high cost of living that are burdening the rakyat, not khalwat or (the absence of) hudud laws,” he said.

He alleged that Hadi was using a “populist issue just to create emotions” among Muslims.

He also alleged that “Umno likes” the issue and is “flirting with it”.

Hadi’s bill proposes to increase the shariah courts’ sentencing limits to 30 years’ jail, a fine of RM100,000 and 100 lashes of the whip. The current maximum penalties under the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act are three years’ jail, a RM5,000 fine and six lashes. -FMT