A petition campaign calling for the Federal Constitution to either be renegotiated or reformulated has kicked off online.

This follows a government motion in Parliament a fortnight ago to fast track PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill to amend the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.

The campaign is aimed at Malaysians in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, and its message addressed to the Malaysian government and members of parliament.

It says that when Sabah and Sarawak joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963, it had signed up for a liberal and secular state, not a theocratic one.

The petitioners held that the government’s fast-tracking of Hadi’s private member’s bill is a step away from this status quo.

“Since the Najib administration is now formally abandoning secularism, the original moral basis of the federation has been called into question.

“The federal-state division of power enshrined in the Ninth Schedule is a packaged deal and cannot be altered unilaterally to suit the call of one or two state of Malaya, while Sabah and Sarawak as the equal partners of the entire Malaya are not consulted.

“Therefore, a constitutional assembly with elected representatives of all constituent states and territories should be convened to renegotiate the Federal Constitution or formulate a new one, to give all states and territories the commensurate and necessary autonomy to pursue their different aspirations and preferred lifestyles,” the petition read.

Until this is done, the petition says, all MPs must vote down the private member’s bill if it appears in the next parliamentary session.

The petition was initiated by the chairperson of the Sabah-based think-tank Progressive Institute of Public Policy Analysis (Pippa), Amde Sidik, last Sunday.

It has garnered 100 signatories as of 8.30am today.

Under the current Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, Syariah Courts can only impose penalties up to three years’ imprisonment, up to RM5,000 fine, and up to six strokes of whipping.

This presents a hurdle to the implementation of Syariah Criminal Code II (1993) 2015 in Kelantan and Syariah Criminal Offences (Hudud and Qisas) Enactment 2002 in Terengganu, which are dubbed as PAS’ hudud law.

The two existing state enactments allow for punishments that are much more severe, including whipping of up to 100 lashes and confiscation of all properties.

Hadi’s private member’s bill seeks to remove the limits on the severity of punishments that can be meted out by the syariah courts, and allow it to impose any penalty allowed by law, except the death penalty.

However, the bill was not debated in Parliament despite the fast-tracking, as Hadi himself asked for it to be put off to the next sitting in October.

Severe punishments

Meanwhile, the petitioners held that the present provisions under the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act is consistent Malaysia’s secular nature and provisions under the Federal Constitution.

It argued that this is not the case for Hadi’s private member’s bill if the amendments are passed, and said that other states may follow suit in imposing more severe punishments as well.

“The move by minister (Azalina Othman Said) and deputy minister (Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin) to get to fast track the Hadi Bill - otherwise would never be debated as it was placed as item 15 at the bottom of the legislative agenda - suggests that the federal government’s position on the agenda of syariah rule expansion has changed from passive avoidance to active embracement.

“Prime Minister (Najib Abdul Razak’s) defending of the fast-tracking shows that the political will comes from the prime minister himself. Minister Azalina’s further comment that matters concerning Islam can only be discussed by Muslims is not acceptable for Sabah and Sarawak.

“Unlike in Malaya, religious or ethnic differences do not stop us from standing together to defend our rights. All Sabahans and all Sarawakians are entitled to speak up and be heard on all matters concerning all Malaysians,” the petition said.