Mr Prime Minister, please save Malaysia

As you are well aware Mr Prime Minister, PAS through its president, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, plans to introduce a private member's bill in Parliament to amend the Syariah Courts Act (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965, to enable the state of Kelantan to introduce hudud laws.

PAS has openly stated that they are banking on Umno MP’s support to validate and push through this bill. 

Sir, the introduction of such a bill in Parliament is clearly against the Federal Constitution. Allow me to point out to you why this is so:

Firstly, Article 160 (2) of the Constitution clearly stipulates that the word law includes only written law, the common law, and any customs or usage having the force of law. It does not mention Syariah or Hudud laws or any other religious laws.

Secondly, under Schedule 9, List 11, Item 1 of the Constitution, states only have the authority to legislate on matters relating to “ ... creation and punishment of offences by professing the religion of Islam against the precepts of that religion, except in regard to matters included in the Federal list (emphasis added). Meaning, criminal laws which come under the legislative competence of the Federal Parliament by virtue of the 9th Schedule list 1, item 4, which states criminal law and procedure are within the powers of the Federal Parliament and therefore, it cannot be encroached upon by the state assemblies. 

In simple terms the state assemblies cannot make or introduce criminal laws or criminal punishments as that power is solely in the hands of the Parliament. All criminal laws like theft, robbery, rape, murder etc are dealt with by the penal code, which is a federal legislation, as such the Kelantan state government cannot be allowed to usurp the powers of Parliament.

Thirdly, any attempt to amend a federal law like the Syariah Courts Act (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965, must be in compliance with the Federal Constitution. As explained above, only the Parliament has powers to legislate on criminal laws and punishments, and any move to add over and above to the penalties already permitted under a federal law, like the Syariah Courts Act (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965 is unconstitutional and therefore void, unless the Federal Constitution itself is amended to allow states to legislate on criminal laws and punishments like the hudud. This, however, would require a two thirds majority vote of the total number of members in Parliament.

This is something which is not possible currently in Parliament.

Fourthly, all members of parliament including you, Mr Prime Minister, have sworn to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of Malaysia. The Federal Constitution is the foundation and the cornerstone of this country. That means you and your MPs, Mr Prime Minister, have no choice but to say no to PAS in their move to push through this bill as it is clearly unconstitutional.

The fate of the country is now in your hands and the world is watching us. Much has been said about how the implementation of hudud will affect non-muslims in our beloved country particularly in Kelantan and I do not wish to add to it, suffice to say that they are legitimate concerns. So I do hope and pray that you will put politics aside to ensure that Malaysia does not break up or collapse into oblivion.

Malaysians are waiting to see your leadership in this issue and we are confident that you will not let us down and you will save Malaysia. – March 26, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.