Hadi's Bill left hanging as Dewan adjourns indefinitely

KUALA LUMPUR: The controversial proposal by PAS to amend the Syariah Court's jurisdiction will not be debated in the Dewan Rakyat in this 13th Parliament sitting.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said the proposed motion, which was a private member's motion, was allowed to be tabled on April 6, 2017, after the government agreed to bring the motion ahead of the government affairs.
However today, he said the government has proposed to adjourn the sitting indefinitely after it settles its business.
"The Standing Orders 15(1) which gives government affair precedence and 12(1) which allows the government to call for an adjournment of the sitting upon settling its business, applies in this matter. This is the government's right," Pandikar said.
He was responding to Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan (PAS-Kota Bharu) who raised a point of order under 49(1), on allowing MP to table a private motion and following procedure should be allowed to be debated.
"From the procedural aspect, after a private member's motion is brought forward and is seconded, the next should be the debate on the motion. That is how it should have been.
"In my understanding, the discretion to allow the motion to be debated comes under your power," Takiyuddin said.
He also said in the case the debate is not allowed, would the "partly tabled motion" be listed in the order paper when the 14th Parliament convenes.

Pandikar, however, did not give a straight answer to Takiyuddin.
"We will see when the next Parliament convenes if the relevant parties want to raise it again," he said.
In a press conference later, Takiyuddin said the decision of Dewan Rakyat not to continue for the motion's debate should not be seen as PAS's failure.
He added that the support of its grassroots supporters in GE14 would not fade despite the Dewan Rakyat's ruling.
"There will be certain parties that might use the opportunity by stating that we had failed in carrying out or responsibilities.
"Although we are disappointed, we had played our role very well. We have done our part," he said.
Takiyuddin, however, acknowledged the Dewan Rakyat's ruling had someone left the motion hanging as the current Parliament term is expected to be dissolved soon.
"We are unsure if the motion would continue in the next parliament or a fresh one need to be tabled again," he said.
"There is no clear answer. The speaker had said that it would depend on the situation of the next parliament," he added.
Takiyuddin said the party would be writing a letter to the speaker for clarification on the motion's status.
"If it is not continued for debate in the next parliament term, we will re-table the exact motion again," he stressed.