The bill, which was tabled in May and brought forward to the current parliamentary session, seeks to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, better known as Act 355.
Zahid told a press conference that Hadi’s bill would not be debated in this parliamentary session.
“The Private Member’s Bill, which has been put forward by the Marang MP, is something that needs to be amended as its nature is quite open-ended,” he said.
He said he had had a discussion with Chief Minister Adenan Satem, who was also present, regarding the matter. Zahid said he had received feedback from Adenan regarding the state BN’s opposition to the Bill.
He said Prime Minister Najib Razak would hold a discussion with the presidents of BN component parties regarding the proposed bill.
“The next step is that we will form a select committee, which will include representatives from all political parties and MPs, who are both Muslim and non-Muslim, to obtain feedback and provide explanations as to what will be amended by the government,” Zahid said.
He added that the amendments (to Act 355) would not be done in this parliamentary session, but in the sessions to come.
He also insisted that the bill was not hudud in nature.
“This is not about hudud law. It’s about amending the existing law. An amendment was first made in 1984. I would like to stress that there is no dualism regarding this law between the civil court and the shariah court.
“Shariah court will not take over any jurisdiction placed with the civil court. And this will not be enforced against non-Muslims. They (proposed amendments) are only to raise the status of the shariah courts that are placed lower in terms of scheme of services.
“In this matter, I request that the Muslim community understand the (proposed) amendments. For the non-Muslim communities, various explanations will be made. If they (proposed amendments) clash with the Federal Constitution, something will be done to prevent the clash. The most important matter is not to raise any confusion over the amendments.”
Asked if the amendments to expand the powers of the shariah courts would lead to hudud or hudud-like laws, Zahid said. “No, no, not true. Not to pave the way for hudud law. No such hudud law is going to be introduced.”
Zahid also denied he was in Sarawak to brief the chief minister on the hudud law.
“My visit here is for something else. I’m going to the Astana. That is the main purpose of my visit.”
Asked why Umno was allowing an opposition private member’s bill to be tabled, Zahid said: “It’s not Umno or PAS in this matter. It’s a private member’s (bill).
“The president of PAS is an MP representing Marang. Parliamentary procedures allow any private member’s bill to be tabled. Supporting or not supporting is a different issue. It depends on a select committee that we are going to set up. We are going to engage with the component parties as well as every member from the different parties. So it’s not final,” he said.
The proposed bill seeks to empower Islamic courts to enforce punishment, except for the death penalty, provided in shariah laws for offences listed under state jurisdiction in the Federal Constitution.
Shariah court punishments are currently limited to jail terms not exceeding three years, whipping of not more than six strokes, or fines of not more than RM5,000.
Meanwhile, in the Dewan Rakyat today, Hadi said the first reading for the amendments to the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 would be brought forward to the next sitting in 2017.