Manoeuvring in Parliament suggests that BN may pull an ambush on Pakatan Harapan tomorrow that would put the opposition MPs in a tough spot.
The government appears to have cleared the way for PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's private member's bill motion to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, also known as Act 355, to be debated in the Dewan Rakyat tomorrow.
Hadi's motion was item number five on the Order Paper today. It was preceded by bills to amend the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, Fire Services Act 1988 and the Civil Law Act 1956, as well as a simple amendment to the second schedule to the Financial Procedure Act 1957.
The amendments to the MACC Act 2009 and Fire Services Act 1988 were passed today.
In a surprise development, the government also retracted the proposed amendment to the Civil Law Act – leaving only the scheduled amendment, which does not require the same rigorous process and which can be passed quickly.
This would then allow for Hadi's motion to be debated and possibly voted on.
Stating its stance
Harapan, which has kept its position on Hadi’s motion ambiguous, may see its MPs being forced to make their stance public.
The motion proposes that the maximum punishments in Act 355 be increased from three years’ imprisonment, RM5,000 fine, and six strokes of the rotan, to 10 years’ imprisonment, RM100,000 fine, and 100 strokes of the rotan.
The increased punishment will allow states to impose punishment for certain offences that are consistent with hudud.
Unlike a government bill where changes to a law are debated in the second and third readings and immediately approved, a private member's bill motion will not go through a second reading even if it passes the first.
Instead, the private member's bill will be referred to a government committee that will decide whether to accept the proposed changes or simply ignore it.
This means that technically, the second reading of Hadi's motion will have little significance in terms of actually changing Act 355, as the government would still have the final say.
Politically charged
However, Hadi's bill is politically charged, leaving any Muslim opposition MPs who vote against the motion or abstain open to potential accusations of wavering in their commitment to Islam.
But forcing a vote could even rekindle discontent within BN's own ranks. With the exception of Umno, all of BN's component parties are also against Hadi's motion.
It is unclear if BN component parties have been informed of the possibility of Hadi's motion being allowed to be debated.
Prior to this, MCA had taken credit for the government repeatedly postponing the bill, which was first tabled in 2015.
The only party that will have no qualms supporting the motion is PAS and its 13 MPs.
PAS may even force a bloc vote, that will require individual MPs to put their preference on record.
However, PAS is two MPs short of the quorum of 15 required of trigger bloc voting. Unless it can find another two MPs to back the move, it is unlikely to do so.
Stemming the tsunami
The manoeuvring comes a day before an expected dissolution of Parliament.
While a vote on the motion could hurt both BN and Harapan, the latter would likely take the most damage, as it could blunt Harapan's attempt to generate a ‘Malay tsunami’ against the ruling coalition.
A Malay tsunami would only be possible with the backing of the rural Malay heartland, which is disproportionately represented in Parliament, and largely conservative in its religious outlook.
If the motion is passed and handed over to a government committee, it will also allow BN to dangle the proposed amendment to Act 355 as a campaign pledge.
Whether the manoeuvring goes ahead tomorrow morning will also depend on 11th-hour negotiations between Umno and its BN partners.
If BN changes its mind, it can always reintroduce other government bills, which take precedence over a private member's bill motion, or even call it a day for the Dewan Rakyat, which is sitting for the last day tomorrow.