AMANAH deputy president Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa referring to the decision of the Federal Court that annulled 16 provisions in the enactment of the Syariah Criminal Code (EKJS) (I) in Kelantan on Friday (Feb 9), said the PAS has to admit its weaknesses in enacting Syariah laws in Kelantan.He said the court judgement has proven the weakness of the PAS-led Kelantan state legislative assembly (DUN) for passing laws that conflicted with the Constitution.“From a legal point of view, the cancellation of 16 provisions in the enactments by the Federal Court is a failure of the functions of the Assembly and the Speaker thus tarnishing the image of the State Assembly in that it does not respect the jurisdiction allocated to it by the Constitution.“The people of Kelantan need to question who were the members of the state assembly who approved these enactments, who was the speaker of the Kelantan House who conducted the state assembly session at that time and who was the legal advisor consulted at that time,” said the former religious affairs minister in a statement.Mujahid also stressed that in order to enact sharia law, the DUN is subject to Schedule 9 of the Constitution which lists the powers of Parliament and the DUN, as well as the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act.“This should be in the knowledge of all PAS assemblymen in the Kelantan state assembly, especially the Speaker of the House who has the role of ensuring that every enactment does not exceed the powers available to him.“The cancellation of 16 allocations in the EKJS is the failure of the PAS assemblyman in Kelantan to examine all the disputed allocations,” he added. – Feb 11, 2024
