Parti Amanah Negara communications director Khalid Samad today accused PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang of wasting Parliament’s time after he postponed debates on his Private Member’s Bill to amend jurisdiction of the syariah court.

“You (Abdul Hadi) asked to be given way for your motion (to be tabled). (The minister) gave way, but then you do not want to debate.

“You’re wasting Parliament’s time,” said the Shah Alam MP.

He further said that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said, who is in charge of Parliament, should have been angry at Hadi as his motion was pushed up from number 15 or the last item on the order paper.

“That should have been the way, but it looked like everybody was happy.

“One was happy to table the motion and postpone debate, another was happy to give way (superceding government matters),” he said.

Khalid also said what happened had made it difficult to convince the people that Hadi’s move was not done as a mere “political drama” ahead of the coming Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections.

He also clarified that he had stood up in the Dewan Rakyat on that day to question the decision to prioritise a Private Member’s Bill above government matters.

This, Khalid said, was contrary to claims that he had stood up to object to Hadi’s tabling of the bill.

“Why did I stand up and ask on the tabling of the motion?

“I stood up so that the government can explain that there was no hidden political agenda,” he said.

Khalid said as such he would proceed to file legal actions against Malay daily Berita Harian over its front-page report on May 27 for misrepresenting him as having objected to the tabling of the Bill, along with the DAP parliamentarians.

“There is bad intention to make me seem like I am DAP’s slave when my stand is different from them.

“The issue of whether or not I agree with the bill does not arise because it has yet to be debated. DAP opposed on procedural grounds while I have clearly stated that I supported it,” he said.

Hadi’s Private Member’s Bill or officially named the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) (Amendment) Bill 2016, is also referred to as the ‘Hudud Bill’ as it would ultimately pave the way for the partial implementation of the Islamic penal code in PAS-ruled Kelantan.

The move had triggered an outcry from non-Muslim MPs, including BN component party leaders who threatened to resign if the amendments are passed.