Despite PAS hoping to meet him, Kuala Lumpur mayor Mhd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz has insisted that Dataran Merdeka is off-limits for the rally in support of amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355).

“No Dataran, no negotiations,” Amin told Malaysiakini.

Further stressing that Dataran Merdeka was off-limits, Amin said the rally should only be held at the Titiwangsa Stadium.

“Just follow like the Rohingya rally,” he said, citing the rally held on Dec 4 last year in solidarity with the Rohingya which saw Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, among others, sharing the stage.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man had earlier said that the rally’s organisers will make a formal application to hold the rally at Dataran Merdeka and expressed hope to meet the mayor.

“We hope our application will be accepted,” Tuan Ibrahim told Malaysiakini.

In a press conference this morning, Tuan Ibrahim said the rally, with the expected attendance of 300,000 people, will be held at Dataran Merdeka on Feb 18.

The rally, he said, is open to all Malaysians regardless of race, religion and political affiliation.

He had claimed that they were awaiting approval for the rally to be held in Dataran Merdeka.

“We have alternative (venues) but we're confident we can secure (Dataran Merdeka),” he had said.

Hadi had read out a motion on the proposed private member’s bill to amend Act 355 on the last day of Parliament last November.

Najib has said that the government will be taking over the bill. Hadi had initially sought to remove caps limiting punishments that can be meted out by Syariah Courts.

This raised concerns that the amendments would pave the way for the implementation of hudud law.

However, Hadi has since revised his amendments, to raise the punishment limit to 30 years’ jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the rotan.

The bill is expected to be tabled in the next Parliament session in March.