PARLIAMENT Abdul Hadi Awang (PAS-Marang) said today he is in the dark about the decision to place his ‘hudud’ motion at number four on the Order Paper on the first day of the current Parliament session.

The motion was to table a Private Member’s Bill proposing the amendments of the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).

"Why (did the motion) go up (the Order Paper)? That is the speaker's business, not mine. I submitted the bill and it is up to them whether they want to put it at number one, seven or 40.

"Whether there are (proverbial) prawns, fish or crocodiles, that's up to you to decide," Hadi said.

Hadi was responding to Chong Chieng Jen (DAP-Bandar Kuching) who questioned if the PAS president was working with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to prioritise his private members' motion, borrowing the Malay proverb "udang di sebalik batu".

He was debating the Budget 2017 speech in Parliament.

Hadi, after brushing off Chong's question, criticised those who questioned PAS' negotiations with the federal government.

"As this matter concerns the common interest of Muslims, it is not wrong to negotiate, be it at the political or governmental level or with officers.

"Therefore, political negotiations were made as those in the state assembly and Dewan Rakyat were politically elected," he said.

He also questioned why PAS was being criticised for working with the other side when other opposition parties did the same.

“If states and the federal government can negotiate on all kinds of issues such as highways and the Penang bridge, is it wrong for us (PAS) to negotiate with the federal government at all levels?

"It is not wrong," he said.

Meanwhile, PAS Youth deputy chief Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi said the move to push through his father's motion in Parliament was only a necessary procedure in order to implement Allah's laws.

Therefore, he questioned why a fuss was being made out of it.

"Why something as simple as this has to be turned into a polemic with issues such as labelling each other as infidels.

"We will all die one day and be judged by Allah," he said in a statement.

Hadi’s Private Member’s Bill seeks to remove the limits of the syariah courts’ punishment, which are a maximum fine of RM5,000, three years’ jail or six strokes of the rotan.

It is referred to as the ‘Hudud Bill’ as it would ultimately pave the way for the partial implementation of the Islamic penal code, specifically in PAS-ruled Kelantan, which has already passed an enactment to that effect.

For example, the punishment using the rotan under the enactment ranges from 40 to 100 strokes.

However, the Kelantan state enactment cannot be implemented as long as the punishment limits meted out by the syariah court remain.