Umno may risk breaking up BN if the ruling coalition's dominant party wilfully presents the amendment to Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 in Parliament, warned MCA president Liow Tiong Lai.

This may happen if the government tables something similar or exactly the same with the motion on Act 355 proposed by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, he added.

"Even though (we) have only seven parliamentarians in Parliament, we will vote against it," he said in an interview with Sin Chew Daily.

If Umno disregards the dissenting voices from the component parties, Liow added, then it would be the culprit for breaking the BN spirit.

"The party which pushes for the unconstitutional bill and even votes for it, will be the culprit. It is Umno that would go against the BN spirit, not MCA."

Would BN continue to exist without its spirit intact, he asked.

Hadi's motion, which seeks to raise the sentence limit to maximum 30 years, RM100,000 fines and 100 strokes of the rotan, would open a floodgate to allow the implementation of hudud in all the states, according to the transport minister.

The two legal systems would split the people in the country, he added.

Liow called on the people, particularly the Chinese community, to rise and prevent the amendment from being passed in Parliament.

"This is something beyond political divide and views.

"On matters that would shake the country's fundamentals, we should work together to stop something similar to Hadi's bill to be passed in the House," he said.

Liow said MCA is not against Act 355, but was only opposing Hadi's motion.

"If Act 355 taken over by the government is done in line with the Federal Constitution, then MCA will agree," he said.

However, he claimed that the party was in the dark on the content of the amendment as the cabinet has yet to discuss on the matter.

The government said it will take over Hadi's bill and make it a government bill after it is tabled in the next sitting in March.