Selangor speaker criticised for allowing hudud debate

Selangor Speaker Hannah Yeoh (pic) was today criticised for allowing a debate on the implementation of hudud to be held in the state legislature.

Lawyer Tommy Thomas expressed shock that Yeoh even allowed the debate considering that it was unconstitutional.

"State assemblies have no business discussing what is clearly a criminal issue outside the legislative competence of state assemblies."

"I voted for Pakatan Rakyat in my Petaling Jaya constituency during the 13th general election last year.

"If I had known that my state assemblyperson was even going to touch on an unconstitutional issue, I would never have voted for PR," Thomas said.

"Hudud as a revolutionary concept should be nipped in the bud and not encouraged," he added.

He said a state assembly motion would invariably confer hudud credibility and legitimacy.

"The mere mention of hudud will unnerve millions of non-Muslims in a plural Selangor, indeed, the entire nation."

Thomas wondered how the late Karpal Singh would have reacted to this issue as the former Tiger of Jelutong was an avowed opponent of hudud.

MCA also entered the fray and urged Yeoh to reject the motion which had been tabled by Umno Selangor.

MCA Selangor state liaison committee deputy chairman Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said the debate on hudud was not important.

"The discussion on the possibility of implementing hudud in Selangor is a waste of time," he said.

Chai said that although Yeoh said she would allow the motion to be tabled based on the democracy process, he questioned if it would enhance the well-being of the people of Selangor.

"If there is none, then Yeoh should dismiss the motion as a waste of time which could be spent debating more important issues such as the public’s welfare."

It was reported earlier today that the Selangor BN's motion for a feasibility study on hudud was approved for debate.

Yeoh told a press conference at her service centre in Subang Jaya that the motion would likely be tabled next week.

Yeoh said she had received four motions for the coming state assembly sitting, all of them from BN representatives.

The speaker added she owed it to the people of Selangor and state assemblypersons to allow debates on any issue that is valid and worth debating in the state assembly

The state assembly will convene on Monday.

- TMI