Speaking to FMT, he said this was clear in the Islamist party’s exhortation to Amanah to support proposed amendments to the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act.
Recently, PAS vice-president Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah urged Amanah MPs to keep their promise to support the tabling of the private member’s bill to amend the act.
In response, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu said the party didn’t feel any urgency to make a stand on the bill.
Tawfik, who as an Umno member was Sungai Benut MP between 1986 and 1990, pointed out that the bill was being challenged in court and that PAS would be in contempt of court if it were to table it in the Dewan Rakyat.
Therefore, he alleged, the call to Amanah was a political ploy.
He was referring to the suit he had filed, seeking to declare the bill as unconstitutional on the grounds that it was in contempt of the Rulers’ Conference.
He said it was on similar grounds that he agreed with Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa’s proposal that federal Islamic affairs agencies come under the management of the Rulers’ Conference.
“It’s a good suggestion to return the power over religion to the rulers as it is in line with the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Mujahid, who is Amanah vice-president, was recently quoted in a news report as saying the Rulers’ Conference should be the authority to determine Islamic policies at the federal level. He said this would prevent the misuse of federal Islamic agencies for political purposes.