PAS admitted today that there have been discussions with the BN-led government to allow its president to table motion to allow the Private Member's Bill seeking to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.
Party president Abdul Hadi Awang said this was because the Standing Orders required a minister to propose for a bill or motion to jump the queue in the Order Paper.
"It requires a minister to support, only after it is agreed to can an MP table the bill for its first reading.
"What we did was to discuss with the government to allow the bill to be tabled for its first reading," Hadi said at a press conference after opening the party's 62nd Muktamar in Kota Bharu today.
On May 26, the last day of the sitting of the second session of Parliament for this year, Hadi successfully tabled the motion to allow his Private Member's Bill, despite the matter being at the tail end of the list in the day's Order Paper, at number 15.
This caused an uproar within the House, with some MPs questioning how and why did the BN allow him to supersede government business.
The Marang MP said all parties would have to understand that politics and democracy do not only involve Parliament.
'Bill concerns only Muslims'
"Democracy also includes demonstration, discussion and dialogue.
"We had submitted this bill since 1995. It is not a new motion. We had submitted it three times in 1995," he said.
Hadi also stressed that the bill only concerned Muslims and that it has not been debated yet.
"It is to upgrade the jurisdiction of the syariah court. The jurisdiction of the syariah court today is much lower than the magistrate's court, which is why it must be upgraded.
"Not only in Kelantan, but all across the land, as it also concerns Umno members who are Muslims. The bill is related to Muslims and does involve non-Muslims." he explained.
As such, Hadi said, the DAP shouldn't bother with a matter that concerns only Muslims.
"We have discussed this and it is up to each party. We are not in the same party even if we are both opposition members, but we each have our own arguments," Hadi added.
While Hadi insists that it was his Private Member's Bill that was tabled, PKR and DAP parliamentarians however contends that it was only the motion to table the bill that was actually tabled, and not the bill itself.-Mkini
While Hadi insists that it was his Private Member's Bill that was tabled, PKR and DAP parliamentarians however contends that it was only the motion to table the bill that was actually tabled, and not the bill itself.-Mkini
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