Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is willing to support the implementation of hudud just so he can get support from PAS, claims his nemesis and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“He’s prepared to support these so-called hudud, where you decapitate people, chop off their hands, stone them to death.

"He’s willing to support that because he wants their (Islamic party’s) support. That’s Najib.

“He doesn’t care what he does or what his policy is, as long as he gets support. And he wants the support of the opposition PAS. The leader of PAS is talking to him," Mahathir told The Australian.

He also warned that Malaysia is becoming more conservative under Najib, not moderate.

"(Najib) is not a moderate in that sense. He wants to be a moderate for the world, but domestic­ally, he agrees with these extreme so-called syariah laws.”

Even sharing a stage

Najib and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang have been warming up to each other over the past year, with the duo even sharing a stage in matching pink Baju Melayu at one point.

PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan has said that PAS would leave it to Putrajaya to push its hudud agenda in Parliament.

Hadi had previously attempted to file a Private Member's Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, to pave the way for enforcement of hudud in Kelantan and other states.

The proposed amendment bill made it to the Dewan Rakyat order paper last year, but was never debated because the House was occupied with other matters.

However,Takiyuddin said further discussions on the matter with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom have shown positive signs.