Mah joins Liow in quit threat over ‘hudud bill’
Gerakan President Mah Siew Kong says he too will resign his Cabinet post after MCA President confirms his willingness to step down as Transport Minister if Syariah Amendment law passed.
PETALING JAYA: The presidents of MCA and Gerakan have vowed to quit their Cabinet positions in the event that the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) (Amendment ) Bill 2016 is passed in Parliament.
Earlier today, MCA President Liow Tiong Lai said he was willing to make the sacrifice to leave his position as Transport Minister, according to a report in The Star Online today.
“I’m trying to stop it. I’m trying to get all the component parties to stop it. I am urging both sides of the political divide to come together and stop this Bill.
“So, if we cannot do it. We will have to sacrifice. I will resign.
“No point I stay on anymore. I have to be very firm on this one,” Liow was quoted as saying by The Star.
However, he was coy about the position of his party in the Barisan Nasional, saying that he was only speaking in a personal capacity as a Cabinet member.
“I’m not going to talk about it (MCA in BN) yet. I think stopping the Bill now is more important than showing emotion.
“You have to talk in the spirit of Barisan and using the force within Barisan to get this Bill stopped.
“But I am prepared for it (to leave Cabinet). I am not worried with what I said,” Liow said, according to The Star.
Meanwhile, reiterating his stand taken in 2014 on being held accountable should any form of hudud law be implemented in the country, Gerakan President Mah Siew Keong said he too was ready to resign.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said his party objected to any attempt to implement Islamic criminal law and added, “And yes, I will be prepared to do what Datuk Seri Liow has announced.”
Mah also took to task PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang for being “vague and unclear on his legislative intent.”
“As such, we are concerned over the tabling of the Bill by Hadi in Parliament to confer open ended sentencing powers on the Syariah Criminal court except on the death penalty.
Mah called for the Islamist party to withdraw the proposed Bill and seek the opinion of Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali as well as other legal experts so as to have the Bill conform to the Federal Constitution.
“We cannot have a criminal justice system for Muslims and one for non-Muslims. There must be uniformity of laws and we must not allow any duplicity,” he was quoted as saying by The Star.
Mah felt that DAP’s role in getting Malaysians to vote for PAS in the last general election should also be highlighted when discussing this contentious issue.
“They are together in the Selangor state government today. Lim Guan Eng (DAP secretary-general) should also resign if hudud is implemented,” Mah said, according to The Star.
Yesterday, the presidents of the three main non-Muslim component parties in the BN issued a joint statement voicing displeasure that the Bill was brought forward in Parliament over other government matters and that it was not discussed within the Cabinet or the BN Supreme Council.
On Thursday, Hadi’s Private Members’ Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) (Amendment) 2016 was unexpectedly brought forward.
The amendments seek to allow the Kelantan Government to impose all hudud punishments, save the death sentence, on those convicted under shariah laws.
The Bill was originally listed as the last item to be debated in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
However, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said proposed for the Bill to jump queue, and Deputy Works Minister Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin seconded it.
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Though the motion was passed, Hadi requested that the debate on the Bill be postponed till the next Dewan Rakyat meeting to allow MPs to have more time to prepare and debate on it.