Hudud not suitable now - Karpal

DAP veteran Karpal Singh has called the Kelantan state government’s proposal to table a private members bill in Parliament to allow hudud laws to be implemented in the state, an ill-advised idea.

Karpal who has always been at loggerheads with PAS over the hudud issue has also stressed that hudud is not a suitable law for today’s age and time.

“The passing of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Court Enactment II in the state assembly in 1993 is in the first place unconstitutional. The state assembly had no jurisdiction to pass the enactment,” he said in a media statement, published in an online portal.

He stressed that it is the Parliament which has the jurisdiction to pass criminal laws.

“Hudud has very serious implications and consequences. Parliament will not, and cannot, pass laws of this category,” he said in the statement.

“Hudud is certainly not a law for the present age and time,” he added.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob had said that Kelantan will table ‘a private members bill in Parliament later this year to seek a declaration that the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Court Enactment II, or hudud, can be implemented in the state’.

Ahmad said if Parliament approved the bill, hudud can be implemented in Kelantan by early next year.

Karpal also reiterated that DAP is firm in its stand that hudud should not be implemented.

“The DAP’s position on hudud has been made clear time and again and that stand cannot be subjected to any compromise. It is fundamental to the party’s existence,” he said adding that hudud law will not be in the national interest.

MCA had also called on the PAS-led state government to drop its hudud plans and instead respect the Federal Constitution which clearly stated that Malaysia is a secular nation and that everyone is equal under the law.

MCA Youth Legal Bureau chairman Choo Wei Sern said Ahmad’s proposal showed his blatant disregard for the Federal Constitution.