Deputy Umno president Muhyiddin Yassin said Umno wants to discuss the implementation of hudud law in Kelantan with its PAS counterparts before stating the party's position on the matter.

He said that he had informed Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah yesterday that both parties should discuss the matter before PAS brings the relevant Private Member's Bill to Parliament.

"We cannot make assumptions. We need to know the story first. If we do not support then it could imply we are not supporting hudud... It has many meanings. We may not agree with the proposal. It is something new in the country.

"It should be carefully studied, otherwise questions may arise later. There are other matters that should be settled first before it (Bill) is brought to Parliament," he told reporters in Pengkalan Chepa yesterday, according to Bernama .

PAS has stated its intention to table the Bill aimed that removing legal hurdles for the implementation of Kelantan's Syariah Criminal Code Enactment 1993.

The Enactment prescribes corporal punishments such as amputations for theft and stoning for adultery.

Experts must be consulted

Muhyiddin said hudud law should be discussed in detail as many still do not understand what hudud actually meant.

"I think Muslims are still unclear and there is a need for more in-depth and widespread information dissemination.

"Non-Muslims would also want to know the situation as this is an independent country and other citizens also have the right to know as they are fearful of the effects of its implementation on them," he said.

He said if PAS was really serious on hudud law, it should be implemented orderly to obtain the acceptance of all parties.

"That is why we have to sit together and discuss and from there find out the real situation before it (hudud) is brought to Parliament.

"PAS only has 21 representatives in Parliament and as such they need support from others. Who would want to support...only Umno? or other Muslim MPs and for this reason it needs indepth understanding and study," he said

He said PAS's coalition partner, DAP, need not dispute the sincerity of Umno in discussing hudud as Umno had its own stand which must also be accepted.

At the same time, Muhyiddin said Umno would push for the establishment of a national-level technical committee on hudud.

He said the committee would be consist of experts on hudud law, including authorities from overseas.