Pakatan Rakyat, including PAS, was in the dark over the details of the Kelantan state government’s plan to amend the Syariah Criminal Laws Act II 1993.

PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar ( left ) today said the Kelantan state government should conduct a briefing in relation to the amendment that is to be made.

“I hope the Kelantan state government will arrange a meeting to brief all parties with regard to this amendment. This is because it is an amendment to an existing enactment.

“And the enactment is not new as it is already 20 years of age,” he said in a press conference at the PAS headquarters today.

When asked whether the Kelantan state government had conducted a meeting with Pakatan and PAS to brief them over the planned amendments to be made, Mahfuz said they had never done so.

He, however, noted that PAS did not have any problem should the state government decide to conduct a meeting with regard to the amendments.

When questioned whether the implementation of hudud will widen the rift between PAS and DAP, Mahfuz believes that such a thing will not occur as both parties have “agreed to disagree” on the issue previously.

The Pokok Sena MP likened PAS and DAP’s relationship to that between a husband and wife when both parties disagreed on an issue.

“Our relationship is like that between a husband and a wife. Both like different dishes and although they quarrel, they still live under the same roof,” he quipped.

Mahfuz added that it was up to the state government, whether PAS would be allowed to give out details of the amendments to PKR and DAP when they receive them.

“It’s up to the Kelantan state government. Maybe we can give them internally, but it needs to be embargoed,” he said.

The Kelantan PAS government will hold a special state assembly sitting on Monday to speed up hudud implementation in the state.

Among its agendas is to table an amendment on the Syariah Criminal Laws Act II 1993 (Amended 2014).

Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob had said that the amendment was part of the procedure by the state government, before tabling a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to seek approval for Kelantan to enforce hudud.

'Hudud was in PAS’ agenda all along'

PKR yesterday confirmed that it had convened a political bureau meeting to discuss the issue of hudud implementation on Sunday.

When asked today whether the political bureau had made a decision on the matter, PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli said that they needed to view the draft of the bill before any decision is made.

He also confirmed that the Pakatan Rakyat secretariat had sent a letter to the Kelantan government for them to view the draft of the bill last Tuesday. However, they have yet to receive a response over the matter.

When asked whether he found it difficult to deal with the hudud issue, Rafizi ( left ) admitted PAS had mentioned that hudud was in their agenda all along.

“This is not the first time hudud is brought up by PAS. I think we will deal with it. The most important thing is to maintain the internal process framework in Pakatan,” said the Pandan MP.

Meanwhile, DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke noted that the party has not seen the contents of the hudud bill yet.

He also expressed hope that PKR and Pakatan would come up with a clear position on the issue, as Pakatan members and supporters were unclear of the coalition’s direction.

“Without a clear position, the conservative faction in PAS will keep on coming up with issues like hudud," the Seremban MP stressed.

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