Mohamed Tawfik Ismail, the son of the second Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, yesterday filed a lawsuit asking the courts to declare that PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355) is unconstitutional, and seeking an order from the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to prohibit the Dewan Rakyat from allowing Hadi’s motion to be tabled and debated in Parliament.
The grounds advanced by Mohamed Tawfik was that Hadi’s private member’s bill was unconstitutional, flouts Parliamentary procedures and in contempt of the Rulers’ Conference as prior consent was not obtained.
Imagine what would have happened if there is a court application against the DAP on the ground that a DAP MP had submitted a private member’s bill which was in contempt of the Rulers’ Conference as prior consent was not obtained.
The Office of the UMNO Directorate of Strategic Communications/Lies would have swung into action and hordes of protestors and demonstrators would have demonstrated outside DAP offices in the country for being anti-Malay Rulers, making all sorts of demands, while on the cyberspace, the UMNO cybertroopers would be working overtime to demonise DAP leaders as having committed treason in showing disrespect and contempt for the Malay Rulers.
Nobody is suggesting a campaign of protests and demonstrators outside PAS offices or a campaign on the social social media against Hadi for his private member’s bill, but the time has come for Malaysians to realise that Malaysian nation-building and politics should have reached a more mature level after 60 years of nationhood where epithets and labels of “anti-Malay”, “anti-Islam” or “anti-Rulers” should not be freely thrown about without any evidence being given.
The recent farce where the UMNO Information chief out-sources hate speech to the general public, asking for evidence that I am ‘anti-Malay” and “anti-Islam”, should never be repeated again – if we are serious in wanting to build a united Malaysian nation out of our diverse races, religions, languages and cultures in the country.
Whether Hadi’s bill is in contempt of the Rulers’ Conference as prior consent had not been obtained is a question which should be decided by the proper authorities.
#1 by Bigjoe on Sunday, 2 April 2017 - 5:01 am
Like it or not, it’s all part and parcel of the NEP, in reality an (over)entitlement and apartheid program. You are talking about a population indoctrinated all their lives about their entitlements and especially in religion, in the oldest text contains words like “dhimmi” who is always a “kafir” – an inherently prejudicial context.
#2 by Bigjoe on Sunday, 2 April 2017 - 8:19 am
The most worrying thing about this is the fact Hadi Awang says there is a ” mastermind” behind opposition to RUU355 when in fact the opposition is very transparent and if there are ” mastermind” there are MILLIONS of ordinary Malaysian “masterminding” to stop the bill.
This playing the “victim” card in the face of failure, to hide from accountability, for emotional ransom and sympathy card says there is still a very real danger of the prodigal Najib doing his worst to us with his partnership with Hadi
#3 by good coolie on Tuesday, 4 April 2017 - 12:23 pm
Opposing the bill does not mean opposing Islam. It just means opposing a certain interpretation of Islam that affects Malaysian society (Muslims and Non-Muslims) adversely.
Note that a majority of Muslims oppose certain Hudud punishments in the present context of Malaysian society while never denying the validity of Hudud in the historical context (which incidentally may occur again at some time in the future).
However, It is wrong for people to deliberately re-create the harsh social conditions of the medieval past merely in order to justify implementation of Hudud. An example is the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant.
As society gets more and more gentle and forgiving, other principles of religion, than punishment, take over. Examples of these abiding principles are found in Islam, and in other religions as well.
Malaysians, the way is clear. Courage is needed to overcome the psychological ploys of this PAS (not Islamic) bill.