PM Ismail Sabri has said the Shariah Courts(Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 Amendment will be presented for states to discuss in October suggesting the Bill will be tabled in Parliament this year. He said the government was intensifying efforts to draft the Bill also known in Malay as the RUU355 Bill.
The proposal is to strengthen the Shariah Courts to impose harsh punishments against Muslims who run afoul of Islamic laws including the LBGT community. It was tabled by PAS President Hadi Awang on 26 May 2016 for the first reading as a Private Member's Bill. The Bill seeks to amend the Act also known as RUU355 to empower Islamic Courts to enforce punishments, except for the dealth penalty.
The proposed changes to Shariah Courts Act 355 or RUU355 has brought about strong public reactions in the country. Former Malaysian Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenevasan said how the amendments will or will not impact the non-Muslims or whether being charged is different from being affected.
The passing of the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 amendment Bill will be the beginning of an Islamic state and the implementation of ancient hudud laws. While the hudud laws would apply to Muslims only, the Private Member Bill by PAS President Hadi Awang is feared to be the first step towards Islamatisation or Talibanization of non-Muslims at a later stage as claimed by Johan Arifin Samad, a former CEO of Sabah state-funded Institute for Development Studies
When Mahathir was the PM for 22 years and even after his retirement, he had consistently warned UMNO of the grave repercussions of supporting PAS' agenda to implement hudud punishments in Kelantan. He even went further to say the Hudud Law proposed by PAS was unjust and against Islamic principles. What is there to stop the extremists and radicals from forcefully include the brutal hudud laws to non-muslims to justify the law as fair to every Malaysian
Hannah Yeoh, MP for Segambut asked in Dewan Rakyat if PM Ismail Sabri has consulted GPS, PBS, STAR, MCA, MIC on this Shariah Bill. Even PM has consulted them, do we think they dare to go against the PM? These MPs care more about their own status, power and position then their own religions.
Why is Sarawak and Sabah still complaining about Islamatisation, Talibanization when we can solve the problems by simply withdrawing support for the Malaya government? Sarawak has 31 MPs and Sabah has 25 MPs (including the opposition MPs). If they combine, they have a total of 56 MPs. This is powerful enough for them to make their demands. They can unite and withdraw support for PM Ismail Sabri and his government will collapse. But are they willing to do this for the sake of Sarawak and Sabah? Even if Sabah is not willing to take this path, Sarawak alone has 31 MPs to make it happen. If UMNO President Zahid Hamidi could easily bring down PM Muhyddin with his 11 MPs, surely the 18 GPS MPs can topple PM Ismail Sabri's razor-thin government .
Based on UNIFOR report in July 15, 2020, Sarawak has a Christian population of 1.1 million or 42.6% making it the largest religious group in Sarawak. Muslims is 32.2% , Buddhists is 13.5%, making close to 70% of the population are non-Muslims.
Deputy Chief Minister, Douglas Uggah said it is in the nation's interest if Sarawak continues to enjoy racial and religious harmony and solidarity with no religious discrimination. Now is the time for all the non- Muslims MPs and together with all Muslims MPs from Sarawak to stand united to oppose the RUU355 Bill. Sarawak needs to take a non-negotiable stand to tell PM Ismail Sabri and Malaya that we vehemently oppose and are against the RUU355 Bill. That Sarawak is truly multi racial and multi religious with no official state religion. That all Sarawakians are free to practice their own religions.
Sarawak has lost most of its rights, including its Oil and Gas to Malaya. Do we want to lose our religions too?
