Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) has submitted its own motion on strengthening the Syariah courts, as an alternative to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's proposed private member's bill.

Amanah communications director Khalid Samad said the party's motion is more holistic than Hadi's, which he described as vague and open to misinterpretation.

"Everyone will find our motion easy to understand and accept... It is clear that our motion is within the framework of the Federal Constitution.

“We talk about empowering Syariah courts, not just by increasing  punishment, but also efficiency, it's more holistic," Khalid told reporters when met in the Parliament lobby today.

The motion, he said, will also call for the formation of a council comprising legal and religious experts to discuss how best to strengthen the Syariah courts.

The motion, he said, was submitted last week by Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, and should appear in the order paper next week.

As for Hadi's motion, Khalid said Amanah had agreed to it in principle.

However, he said it must abide by the Constitution.

Khalid also said the party have yet to decide on how to vote on the motion

He said Amanah's requests for a more detailed explanation from the PAS president have gone unanswered.

Hadi’s motion is in regards to his private member's bill, which seeks to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act to allow for greater punishment.

Critics fear that these amendments would make way for the implementation of hudud.

When asked, DAP Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said Amanah's motion had not yet been discussed by the party.

"The central executive committee has yet to discuss it, we will probably discuss it in next week's meeting," Gobind told reporters.

Meanwhile PKR Batu MP Tian Chua said the party had discussed the matter and agreed in principle that Syariah courts needed to be strengthened.

"We all have our opinions, we are all in agreement that there must be a proper select committee so that our cases can be heard," Tian said.