KUALA LUMPUR: Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang is confident that the private members' bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 will be read before April 9.
He also said the party would not submit more than one private members' bill as previously reported, for a subsequent proposal to amend Act 76A(1) of the Federal Constitution.
Hadi said if the private bill for the syariah courts' jurisdiction were passed, it would mean that the courts could have greater jurisdiction in meting out punishments.
"But syariah laws only applicable to Muslims. So non-Muslims should not put a stop to our efforts to promote Islamic jurisprudence," said Hadi at a Press conference today.
Earlier, 30 members of Pas central committee and state commissioners met to deliberate matters surrounding the hudud controversy, among others.
Hadi had sent to parliament a private bill on March 18, with proposals to allow for the provision of enforcement under the Syariah Courts Act, to exceed its current limits.
Currently the Act limits a state syariah criminal law from handing down punishments that exceed three years’ jail, RM5,000 fine, and six strokes of the rotan.
Meanwhile on Pas' stand in Pakatan following DAP's opposition against hudud, Pas deputy president Mohamad Sabu replied that the issue was not discussed in the meeting.
"We are still in Pakatan. Everything is okay. We did not discuss that (the Pas-DAP row)."