Its president, Najib Razak, said it was to enable the component parties to have a clear understanding regarding the purpose of the Bill.

“As the BN government, we will discuss with BN component parties so that they will understand what is actually the purpose of the amendment of the Bill,” he said at a special interview programme in conjunction with the 2016 Umno General Assembly.

Najib stressed that the Bill was not hudud and would only be applied to Muslims.

“This enhances the shariah court’s powers and it has nothing to do with non-Muslims,” he said.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had brought forth a motion on the private member’s Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965 Bill, or better known as Act 355 at the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 24.