Penampang Warisan chief Ian Mahendran Krishna said the party opposed the bill to amend Act 355 for the simple reason that it was in total contravention of the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“Bear in mind that when our forefathers agreed to form the federation of Malaysia, they made it very clear that there shall be no official religion in Sabah,” Ian wrote in a letter to Borneo Today.
From there, it would be natural to conclude that Islamic law should not be applied in Sabah, he continued.
“Since Malaysia is a secular nation, we have the Penal Code to be applied when it comes to imposing punishment on Sabahan criminals (Muslim and non-Muslim alike).”
The amended law, he said, would create two different sets of punishments for Sabahans convicted of any crime.
“If the amended RUU355 is passed, our Sabahan Muslims may find themselves being tried under a law to which our founding forefathers never agreed to in the first place.”
Ian went on to rap Sabah MCA for its “cheap attempt” to put a twist on Warisan’s objection to the referendum suggested by the Chinese party to determine whether Muslims were in favour of amending Act 355.
He said MCA had conveniently ignored Warisan’s contention that the results of such a referendum could “go either way”.
“The best solution is for the government, of which MCA is a part of, to not even allow the amendment to RUU355 to be brought up for debate and to stop it there.”
Warisan founder, former Umno vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal, has previously said he would not vote for the bill when it is tabled in Parliament.
He said the party stood with Sarawak on the issue.
“I won’t be voting for it. That’s very clear, the same as Sarawak,” he said.
The bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, commonly shortened to Act 355 or RUU355, is expected to be tabled in Parliament sometime this year.
The bill to amend Act 355 to grant shariah courts greater punitive powers was first tabled by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang last May.
Hadi hopes to raise the maximum penalties for shariah offences from three years to 30 years’ jail; RM5,000 fine to RM100,000; and six strokes of the rotan to 100.