Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has denied that Prime Minister Najib Razak's delay in announcing BN and the cabinet's stand on hudud is a ploy aimed at breaking up Pakatan Rakyat.

"It's no such thing. Because it (hudud) is something that has been tabled in the (Kelantan) state assembly," he said when asked.

Khairy talking to the press today concurred with his Umno colleagues that their cabinet meeting did not discuss the hudud enactment passed by Kelantan last month.

"At the last cabinet meeting, I as a member of cabinet, we did not discuss hudud issue," he said.  

Even in the previous cabinet meetings after the amendment was passed, ministers were merely informed of the bill, he said.

"We were informed that Kelantan assembly passed the amendment, and (PAS president) Hadi Awang may table a Private Member's Bill, that was all," he explained.

Khairy's claim counters Transport Minister and MCA chief Liow Tiong Lai had claimed cabinet did discuss the issue.

However Minister for International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed and Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz had claimed otherwise .

'No rush for PM'

The question on the cabinet's stand on hudud has become heated one after the Kelantan assembly passed an amendment on The Syariah Criminal Code II 1993 to pave way for the implementation of the Islamic penal code.

BN's non-Muslim parties had blamed the advance of PAS' hudud ambitions on DAP, but has remained elusive about Umno's own stand on whether the ruling party would support Hadi's bill if it is tabled in Parliament.

DAP meanwhile had shot back that it was Umno's Minister in Prime Minister's Office Jamil Khir Baharaom who had started the ball rolling by telling PAS Kelantan the hudud bill would get the government's support, and set up a joint technical committee with PAS to study the matter.

Khairy however reiterated that there is no rush for the PM to make a statement on the matter.

"This was brought by the PAS government in Kelantan. For now, it has no implication on the federal government.

"It's not even something that has been tabled in front of the federal Parliament.

"For us, there is no urgency for him to make a statement on this," he added.

Hadi hopeful for first read

Meanwhile Hadi said he is confident his bill will be tabled in the current parliamentary session.

"God willing, (I hope) at least it gets the first reading in this session, God willing," he said when asked after officiating a briefing on the syariah enactment at Zulkifli Muhammad Islamic University College (KUIZM) today.

"We will table it in Parliament and see what happens from there."

When asked how Pakatan partners would react if he proceeds with his bill, Hadi said, "Let's wait and see what their response is, to what we are doing out of our duty (to Islam)," he said briefly.