KUALA LUMPUR: PAS today vowed to continue pushing for heavier penalties for shariah offences, a day after Prime Minister Najib Razak said the government would not table a bill to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act as announced ealier.
“We will fight for it till judgement day,” PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad told reporters at the Parliament today.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang tabled the bill, also known as Act 355, seeking to increase the maximum punishment on offences under shariah to 30 years’ jail, 100 lashes of the cane, and RM100,000 fine.
Idris brushed aside suggestions that the government’s decision would affect the party’s ties with Umno, saying there had never been one to begin with.
In recent months, both parties seemed to be enjoying warmer ties, coming together on several occasions for issues affecting the Muslim community, such as the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar.