FORMER Umno MP Mohamed Tawfik Ismail, who recently sent a legal notice to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker and secretary to stop the tabling of the RUU355 bill, today sent them a supplementary affidavit for violating the principles of the Rukun Negara after the bill was tabled.

RUU355 refers to PAS president and Marang MP Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 to increase the maximum punishments for jail, fine and whipping.

The bill was tabled last Thursday at the Dewan Rakyat, despite Tawfik filing an earlier suit against Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and secretary Roosme Hamzah for accepting the bill.

In the first suit, Tawfik said the bill should not have been accepted by the house without the consent of the Rulers’ Conference, as it was a matter of religion.

He also said the bill had failed to follow parliamentary procedures and was flawed.

In the latest affidavit, Tawfik said: “It is incumbent for the court to prevent the violation of the spirit of the constitution when the speaker of the house had shown neglect, failure and/or refusal to abide by the constitutional provisions to refer and consult the matter with the Conference of Rulers, and which violates the standing orders of the Dewan Rakyat in light of media reports that the Hadi’s motion will be tabled on Thursday, April 6”.

Tawfik cited news reports on the government announcing it would take over RUU355, and then deciding against it, before allowing Hadi to table it as a private member’s bill.

“I verily state that the government’s capricious stand in the inconsistent announcement by the deputy prime minister and prime minister shows that RUU355 is merely a political posturing and play by Umno and PAS for political mileage for the 14th general election.

“Therefore, RUU355 is not a genuine promulgation of laws for the good of Malaysia and her citizens,” he said.

He also said the tabling of the bill was an abuse of the process of promulgation of laws using religious sentiment for political purpose, and was in contempt of Parliament as a sacred institution.

Because of this, he said, Parliament was now embroiled in the promulgation of a law that affected national policy, which created discrimination among Malaysians on the basis of race and religion.

The supplementary affidavit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court last Friday and served to the defendants today. – April 10, 2017.