Dewan Negara speaker demanded to give answer for granting leave on PAS Private Member's Bill: Zaid

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim (pix) today demanded an answer from the Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin for granting leave on PAS' Private Member's Bill.
Zaid said when the Bill was first proposed in March and June last year, Parliament had not provided information to the public about its proposed contents.
"Did the Speaker make a conscious effort to get proper legal advice about whether such a Bill should be allowed in the first place?" the former lawmaker wrote in his blog titled The ZaidGeist.
He cited that should the Speaker cared to read Article 67 of the Federal Constitution,"… he would see that Parliament must not entertain a Private Member's Bill on matters of finance, for example, for the simple reason that finance is an important matter within the purview of the Federal Government."
"What makes us a democracy is having a government that is governed by laws made by legislators and not God, such as the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965. This Act limits the Syariah courts' powers to impose punishment for Islamic offences under the state courts' jurisdiction," he added.
He also claimed that PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang is attempting to use his "new political connections within Umno to persuade them to let him amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 to withdraw the limit imposed on the courts' sentencing powers."
He said Federal matters are not to be 'hijacked' to the State List by increasing sentences which the courts can impose.
He added that the Parliament should have held a vigorous preliminary debate on this matter before giving leave to Hadi last year.