PAS needs two-thirds majority in Parliament to amend constitution for hudud

PAS need to get two-thirds majority in Parliament to amend the constitution to give jurisdiction to Syariah courts to hear criminal cases for the implementation of the hudud law.

Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz said criminal punishments, like for murder, rape and theft came under the civil courts and could not be tried in the Syariah Court.

"Hudud involves punishment while criminal cases in Malaysia, as provided by the Federal Constitution, can only be tried in the civil courts," he told reporters after giving a speech at the 13th ASEAN Sociocultural Ministers' meeting here Thursday.

He was commenting on a statement by PAS Information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar who wanted him to retract his statement for saying that it was stupid for anyone to discuss hudud.

On PAS' intention to table a private bill in Parliament to enable hudud to be implemented in Kelantan, Mohamed Nazri said it would be "a futile effort and merely a game by PAS".