Under PN, it's more conducive now for PAS to push for hudud - Lawyer

Lawyer Hisham Fauzi said with PAS ministers now part of the Perikatan Nasional government, it is now more conducive for the Islamist party to push for amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, or Act 355, which will allow the partial implementation of hudud.

Hisham, who is the Kelantan Law and Human Rights Organisation chairperson, said Kelantan and Terengganu, which have Syariah criminal code enactments but have not been able to implement them, are now also no longer opposition states.

"The PAS-led Kelantan and Terengganu government now have representatives in the federal government, namely De Facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of religion Ahmad Marzuk Shaary," he said.

Like PAS' previous attempt, an amendment needs to be introduced to Act 355 to increase the current maximum punishment of three years imprisonment, RM5,000 fine and six strokes of the rotan to a quantum that befits hudud punishment.

This will ensure that the Syariah criminal code enactments in Kelantan and Terengganu no longer run contrary to Act 355, which is a federal law that supersedes state laws.

"The power to decide the Order Paper in the Dewan Rakyat lies with the Dewan Rakyat speaker but the minister in charge of Parliament has the legitimacy to ensure the motion to amend Act 355 is submitted and made a priority in the Order Paper," he said.

Yesterday, PAS vice president Mohd Amar Abdullah (above) had said it was too early to discuss amendments to Act 355, a key initiative that PAS has lobbied for since before the 2018 general election.

Hisham was previously involved in drafting the Syariah criminal code enactments for Kelantan.

"The current development means it is now very conducive for the implementation of hudud in Malaysia soon. Now is the time.

"For other states in the peninsular as well as Sabah and Sarawak which do not yet have a hudud enactment, now is the time for their state assembly to draft the relevant enactments," he said.

At present, the Syariah criminal code enactments in Kelantan and Terengganu cannot be implemented as the quantum of punishment it provides exceeds what is provided in Act 355.

Act 355 is a federal law, which supersedes state laws.

However, some legal experts have argued that even if Act 355 is made to be consistent with the state Syariah criminal code enactments, it will still run contrary to the Federal Constitution.

However, their constitutionality has yet to be tested in the court of law. - Mkini