On Thursday, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (pic) tabled a motion to expedite the tabling of Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s Bill in Parliament to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965. ― Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 ― Umno scored major political points over PAS for the upcoming twin by-elections and beyond by fast-tracking the Islamist party's so-called hudud Bill in Parliament, analysts said.

Political pundits believe that the move has undermined PAS's Islamist credentials as well as its position as an opposition party, as it showed the party was ill-prepared for the possibility that the hudud Bill would be tabled, while at the same strengthening the perception that it was working with Umno.

“Definitely. Umno made PAS look like fools. They gave them the chance to table hudud as a ploy to break up Pakatan further. And PAS took the bait.

“Now, they are given the room to table the bill and they said let the MPs have more time to debate?” Dr Faisal Hazis, associate professor at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, told Malay Mail Online.

On Thursday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of parliamentary affairs Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said tabled a motion to expedite the tabling of PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s Bill in Parliament to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.

However, Hadi surprisingly requested it to be deferred for debate at the next parliamentary meeting in October.

The Bill seeks to empower shariah courts to enforce punishments ― except for the death penalty ― provided in shariah laws for Islamic offences listed under state jurisdiction in the Federal Constitution, without elaborating on the nature of the punishments. Shariah court punishments are currently limited to jail terms not exceeding three years, or whipping of not more than six strokes, or fines of not more than RM5,000.

Hadi denied Friday that his Bill was intended to introduce hudud in Kelantan, saying that the proposed legal amendments would not cover all punishments under the Islamic criminal law that include stoning and amputations.

Faisal said Umno had achieved its goal of weakening PAS ahead of the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections, both to be held simultaneously on June 18.

“Umno will definitely cooperate with PAS not for the good of the Malays and Muslim population but to strengthen Barisan Nasional and Umno,” he added.

Dr Ooi Kee Beng of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Yusof Ishak Institute said PAS's previous alliance with the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat (PR) shielded it from Umno's political games in the past, but the near tabling of the hudud Bill and the party's hesitation for it to be debated would affect the Islamist party's image.

“That strategy [being with PR] is no longer possible, which leaves PAS in a rather desperate state, and therefore ever more vulnerable to the games that others play.

“It is worrying of course that no issue seems to be beyond short-term political manipulation and ambitions,” he told Malay Mail Online.

Ooi said that the upcoming two by-elections were crucial to Umno as it would allow the party to show that it has not lost core Malay support despite national issues like the Goods and Services Tax as well as the controversy surrounding state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

“Umno is hoping that there will be three-cornered fights, but thinking that if there are not, then it is PAS they have to worry about,” he said.

But Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, believes the latest hudud issue would not have a direct impact on the two by-elections, and that local concerns would still be a higher priority for voters.

“I gathered that local issues are still predominant in these semi-rural constituencies. Kangsar is an Umno stronghold, so not so difficult to retain,” he said, adding that voters might still bank on BN in Sungai Besar in return for more federal development projects there.