Perlis Going the Hudud Way?

PETALING JAYA: Kelantan may soon have a partner in Perlis in the implementation of the Islamic penal code.

The northern most state is currently awaiting for a consensus from the national technical committee on hudud that was announced on Monday by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

The BN-led Perlis government would decide the possibility to implement hudud after that, reported English daily, New Straits Times today.

The daily quoted Perlis state exco for Islamic affairs and human resources Khairi Hasan as saying so in a written reply to Sanglang state representative, Shukri Ramli of PAS.

“Our main concern is that the failure to develop a Muslim community that truly understood and lived up to the Islamic law requirements would only lead to misunderstanding and slander to the concept of justice in hudud itself,” Khairi was reported as saying.

Shukri had queried whether the state government had set a time frame to implement hudud in the state.

Perlis is made up of 15 state seats of which 13 are held by Umno. The other two are held by PAS and PKR.

Hudud is now widely talked about following PAS-led Kelantan government’s determination to implement their Syariah Criminal Code Enactment II, 1993.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob of a PAS announced that a Kelantan-based MP would table a private bill in Parliament in June to see through the implementation of the Islamic penal code.

In a related development, Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said the endorsement of the private member’s bill will enable the state to establish a Syariah Special Court and a Syariah Special Appeals Court with eight judges.

“Five of the judges will handle the Syariah Special Appeals Court while the rest is for the Syariah Special Court,” he is reported as saying.

On another matter, Amar stressed that they would go ahead with their plans to implement hudud even though their Pakatan ally, DAP and other parties are against hudud.

FMT