PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s Private Member’s Bill to amend Act 355 will be a credit to PAS in elections, said PAS Youth chief Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz.

The bill by Hadi, who is also Marang MP, appeared on the Dewan Rakyat order paper today, the last day of the lower house’s second session of 2016.

“Why worry? We are confident that this will be a credit to PAS and Muslims, God willing,” he told reporters when met at the Parliament lobby today.

He was asked if the tabling of the bill could affect PAS’ standing among non-Muslim voters in elections. 

PAS said it will stand in the June 18 Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections, where non-Muslims make up about 30 percent of the constituencies respectively.

The bill is dubbed the 'Hudud Bill' because it aims to amend Act 355, to pave the way for the implementation of hudud.

Act 355 deals with the jurisdiction of syariah courts, and thus needs to be amended to allow the courts to mete out hudud sentences.

PAS said it will contest the twin polls despite calls by Pakatan Harapan to stand down and allow a straight fight between Pakatan Harapan and BN.

PAS lost to BN by a margin of about one percent in both constituencies in the 2013 general election.

[More to follow]