NO matter how much spin is employed, it looks like Prime Minister Najib Razak ‎got the short end of the stick following the ruling federal coalition’s decision not to table the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 or RUU355.

How so?

Let’s face it. The private member’s bill by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang would have been stillborn had it not been for the oxygen provided by the prime minister and Umno. 

From the onset, MCA, MIC, Gerakan and other Barisan Nasional component parties made it clear that they were against the proposed amendments to enhance punishments to a maximum of 30 years’ jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 lashes.

Umno’s political partners believed that the Private Member’s Bill was an attempt by the Islamic party to introduce hudud by the backdoor. They appreciated that they would have been decimated by the groups they represented had they shown any support for Hadi’s bill.

As such, there was a zero chance of BN achieving any consensus on RUU355. This fact has been clear from day one and was not something that emerged suddenly on March 29 during the BN meeting chaired by Najib.

So why did Najib, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Religious Affairs Minister Jamil Khir Baharom ‎and other Umno ministers breathe life into the proposed controversial amendments for so long?

Because as long as it appeared that the BN government supported the bill, it could keep PAS in friendly territory and force the opposition coalition of PKR, DAP, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and Amanah to be off-balance. 

Because as long as the BN government supported Hadi’s bill, it strengthened the latter’s narrative that it was more palatable to work with Umno and made the possibility of an electoral pact between the strongest Malay political parties a reality. 

Without PAS in its corner, Pakatan Harapan will not be able to achieve the scenario of straight fights in the 14^th general election. Studies suggest that Najib and BN will likely return to power if there are three-cornered electoral fights, with the split vote benefitting BN most.

But with Hadi’s treasured amendments in cold storage, the PAS president will have some difficulty selling the idea of PAS-Umno cooperation at the party’s annual gathering next month.

As it is, the party grassroots have not embraced the idea of a rapprochement with their sworn political enemy. What more now with the bill without the expected support of the BN government?

It would not be lost on Hadi or his supporters that there are limits to what this PM and Umno president can deliver. He may speak the same language and wish the same things as the PAS president but there are limits to the power of incumbency, especially in a Malaysia where there are several centres of power.

At the very least by being unable to table the shariah amendments, Najib has lost the strategic initiative of keeping PAS away from PH. And away from the dreaded one-on-one electoral contests in GE14 that Dr Mahathir Mohamad and gang so desperately want.

But surely BN’s decision not to table the amendments would have won it some points, especially with non-Muslim voters.

Perhaps, but one suspects that the Najib administration’s flirtation with Hadi, PAS and the bill has created some lasting damage. – March 31, 2017.