Long way to go before Hudud can be debated as a Private Member’s Bill

Much has been said and speculated with regards to a possible private member’s bill to be brought to parliament by a PAS MP to allow for hudud to be introduced in this country. But not many people realize that the process of getting a private member’s bill to be put, literally, on the table of each MP is a long and arduous one.

Before the most recent parliament sitting, Member of Parliament for Sungai Siput, Dr Jeyakumar, tried to table a Private Member’s Bill entitled the Social Inclusion Act. I seconded that bill in my capacity as the Member of Parliament for Serdang. We submitted the bill and the relevant supporting documents a few weeks before the start of the March Parliamentary sitting. This bill did not even make it to the order paper, which lists all the laws which are to be debated and passed as well as motions by individual MPs.