Sarawak PAS commissioner, Jofri Jaraiee said this after DAP’s Lim Kit Siang questioned PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang whether the anti-Islam label also applied to Muslim MPs from the state should they decide to vote against the private member’s bill.
Jofri brushed aside Lim’s statement by saying DAP was out “to provoke people”, adding that there had yet to be a final decision on how Sarawak MPs would vote when the bill is put to vote.
Hadi tabled the bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 last year, to increase punishments on shariah offenders from the current three-year jail term to 30 years. It also seeks a maximum fine of RM100,000 and 100 strokes of the cane.
Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg had last month reaffirmed the stand of his predecessor, the late Adenan Satem, that MPs from the state would oppose the bill.
Yesterday, Lim, taking Hadi to task for suggesting that DAP was anti-Islam for opposing the bill, asked if the PAS leader also viewed the Sarawak MPs as anti-Islam.
“So is the Sarawak chief minister anti-Islam? He has instructed all 25 Sarawak MPs, including four ministers who are Muslims, to reject the bill,” said Lim.
Jofri said he was confident that the decision not to support the bill was not final.
“We will wait for Abang Johari’s decision on the matter.”