In push for hudud, Hadi, Haron met Najib 3 times, source says

A source says that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib has met top two PAS leaders thrice over hudud implementation. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, August 2, 2015.PAS spiritual leader Datuk Dr Haron Din and president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang met Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak three times to talk about implementing hudud in Malaysia, an Islamic non-governmental organisation source who knew of the meeting said.

Putrajaya's nod for the Islamic penal code was also signalled at a meeting during Ramadan recently, when Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom implied that the government was serious about ensuring its implementation in the country.

Jamil Khir said this when answering questions by participants at a dialogue and breaking of fast event organised by Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim) at the Federal Territory Mosque in Kuala Lumpur at the end of Ramadan, the source said.

During the dialogue, a participant from Kelantan had asked about the federal government's stand on hudud, and the private member's bill, which had been tabled by Hadi at the Dewan Rakyat in March to amend the Shariah Courts Act 1965, that will enable hudud to be implemented.

The participant had said that PAS was split and had broken off from Pakatan Rakyat over hudud, and wanted to know Putrajaya's views on this development.

According to the source, Jamil Khir said that Putrajaya was serious because the prime minister had met Hadi three times to talk about the issue.

Jamil Khir had also said in the Dewan Rakyat that Putrajaya was willing to assist any state government that wanted to impose hudud.

When the Kelantan legislative assembly voted on March 19 to pass amendments to Shariah criminal enactment, all of Umno's assemblymen supported the bill.

Hadi had sent a notice to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker's office to have hudud placed in the House's agenda, but it has come to nothing so far, as government business usually precedes other matters including private member's bills.

The first motion was submitted on March 18 for the Dewan Rakyat sitting that ended on April 19, and Hadi submitted a second notice for the May sitting.

PAS's insistence on pursuing its hudud agenda then saw the crumbling of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition pact, with DAP leaders warning the Islamist party of playing into Umno's hand.

PAS's conservative leaders before that have also spoken of collaboration with its arch political rival, Umno, for the advancement of Islam.

While Hadi's private member's bill on hudud has yet to be discussed in Parliament, the issue had already killed the opposition pact. PAS has broken ties with DAP over the matter, effectively causing PR that was founded in 2008 to collapse.

Progressive leaders in PAS were also ousted en bloc at the party's election in June, and are now preparing to launch a political vehicle that will form a new opposition alliance with DAP and PKR.

Observers are watching PAS's relationship with Umno again, especially after Hadi's recent statement that Najib's new Cabinet should be given a chance following a reshuffle last week, which saw Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sacked as deputy prime minister.

Hadi did not make a stand when asked to comment on the reshuffle, saying he wanted to assess the performance of the new Cabinet first.

Other opposition leaders, however, including progressives from PAS, had called for a vote of no-confidence to be tabled against Najib.

The Cabinet reshuffle took place in the midst of an investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing by 1Malaysia Development Bhd's (1MDB), which is Najib's brainchild.

Muhyiddin and another Umno minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, had both openly questioned Najib on his handling of the debt-ridden fund and their axing from the Cabinet, was seen as a move to silence critics.

Najib had praised Hadi for saying that the new Cabinet ought to be given a chance to resolve current issues before a vote of no-confidence was moved against him.

It was not the first time Hadi, as well as Haron, have been seen as supportive of the embattled Najib.

When The Wall Street Journal alleged that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) had gone to the prime minister's personal bank accounts, Haron said the claim was illogical, while Hadi said that Islam required four witnesses in order to prove any wrongdoing.

- TMI