Fiery start to Act 355 briefing but all ended well - Ahmad Zahid

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Wednesday revealed that the special briefing on the Private Member's Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355) for Muslim members of Parliament yesterday was heated in the beginning.

The Deputy Prime Minister said, however, the situation did not persist when all the MPs present accepted the explanation by the government that Act 355 was linked to efforts to empower the authority of the Syariah Courts and it was not about the implementation of Hudud as feared by some.

"Even though there are various political ideologies and understanding in the country, we are fortunate that in the name of Islam, all Muslim MPs were able to set side their political leanings and ideologies to sit together and discuss.

"Initially, the session was rather heated as some lacked understanding but when the explanation was made, they asked why was the explanation not given earlier and we said why didn't they ask," he said.

He said this when opening the International Al-Quran Tahfiz Symposium in conjunction with 50th anniversary of Darul Quran at the Malaysian Islamic Training Institute here.

Present were Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) director-general Tan Sri Othman Mustapha.

Ahmad Zahid said the special briefing by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom was attended by MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN), PAS, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).

Elaborating further, the Deputy Prime Minister said he did not mean to use a special platform to speak on matters considered political but the briefing was to explain the capacity to empower Islamic laws.

He said non-Muslims should not feel threatened or marginalised by the matter as the amendments and later implementation would only apply to Muslims.

"What are the non-Muslims afraid about as this is for Muslims, and does not even touch on non-Muslims.

"Why must Muslims be faulted if we try to empower the Islamic legal system and what is wrong if the move ensures syariah judges be upgraded from grade 54 to Superscale C, B, A and so on," he said.

In this regard, Ahmad Zahid reminded those who oppose Act 355 to respect matters on Islamic laws and understand that Islamic laws are only for Muslims.

"If they do not understand, we will explain, negotiate but do not oppose before understanding and getting another perception on the laws," he said.

Yesterday, Ahmad Zahid who is BN chief whip was reported as saying the bill brought by Marang MP Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang which had sparked various assumptions and public debates would be tabled at current Dewan Rakyat session. - BERNAMA