At a press conference at Wisma MCA today, party president Liow Tiong Lai said: “It is very clear that Barisan Nasional has made a consensus decision that a government bill will supersede a private bill.”
Hadi seeks to table a private member’s bill to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act.
“We will make sure that this bill will not be able to be debated because we know government bills must come first in Parliament,” Liow was quoted as saying.
It was not clear if this decision was reached on Saturday at a pre-council of BN MPs. However, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang had speculated yesterday that the BN consensus was to delay Hadi’s bill through procedure.
Hadi has filed a motion seeking approval of the House to table his private member’s bill. His motion is No. 4 among 27 motions to be discussed by the House. His application must be debated and approved by the House.
Only after the motion is approved will the Bill be considered to have been tabled before the House. However, the Bill will then go to a government minister who will bring the Bill up for debate.
The Order Paper for the current meeting of the Dewan Rakyat lists the Budget (or Supply Bill 2017) and four other government bills to be tabled, and a debate on proposed amendments to the Sabah advocates ordinance.
The MCA has been challenged by opposition politicians to declare that MPs of the party would vote against Hadi’s bill if it was tabled and debated by the House.
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