DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang's suggestion for a new coalition of lawmakers to defend the constitution and rule of law is "premature", said PAS MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa.

Pointing out that the topic of whether the implementation of hudud law is constitutional or otherwise is "debatable", he said a "healthy debate" must take place on the matter first before any conclusions are made.

"It is rather premature, the whole issue has not been debated in a healthy manner yet," he said when asked to respond to Lim ( right ), who made the suggestion amid major cracks in the opposition bloc over the hudud bill.

Meanwhile, DAP and PKR leaders agreed that BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak must state his and his party's stand on hudud before any such "realignment" of political forces could be considered.

PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli said he would "wait and see" if BN would suffer a break-up due to Najib's stand.

"The natural course of events if Najib decides to back the hudud enactment, there would be a new coalition, centered around the moderates. But currently we are all speculating," he added.

Umno's BN partners have also objected to the Islamic penal code being implemented in Malaysia.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had sent in a private member's bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, but BN is yet to state whether it would propose the bill, allowing it to be debated and voted on in Parliament.

The bill would be the second step in PAS' efforts to implement hudud in Kelantan. It had already passed amendments to the Syariah Criminal Code Enactment 1993 last week at the state assembly.

Meanwhile, DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke also said the realignment of political forces in the country would depend on whether Najib backs the hudud enactment.

However, he described Lim's statement as his " personal opinion ".

‘ A ploy to save Pakatan?’

Meanwhile, MCA president Liow Tiong Lai believes Lim’s statement was a ploy to save Pakatan amidst staunch criticism the coalition has received for PAS’ hudud implementation in Kelantan.

“We are suspicious at Lim’s agenda. He is trying to play politics and divert the attention from hudud,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

He added that if the suggestion made by Lim was genuine and meant for “nation-building”, he had no qualms in “welcoming all parties to work together”.

Liow also said it was ironic for Lim to release such a statement when DAP has been colluding with PAS on hudud since day one.

“I want to say that Lim knew very well that PAS is going to implement hudud. He knew it from the first day but why was he hiding and disguising it while promoting PAS in the past,” he added.

PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar on the other hand, who was speaking to reporters on hudud today, said he is not able to comment about Lim’s statement as he has not read it yet.

“I have not seen the statement yet. I cannot comment as I have not been able to read it yet,” he said.

On another note, the PAS parliamentary whip confirmed that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had already sent a letter to the Dewan Rakyat speaker on the private member’s bill regarding hudud.