Move to retain Sedition Act gets mixed reactions

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak's announcement today that the Sedition Act 1948 is to be retained instead of being repealed, was met with mixed reactions.
While the 2,700 Umno delegates at the Dewan Merdeka at the Putra World Trade Centre were clearly overjoyed, not all quarters were happy about the U-turn the government suddenly made after months of talking about repealing the controversial law.
Civil liberty groups, various non-government organisations and opposition parties have been against the act for years.
In an immediate reaction, MIC deputy president Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam said the decision to retain the Sedition Act was neither discussed in the Cabinet nor with the Barisan Nasional component parties.
He said the prime minister's decision was probably based on the feedback he was getting from the ground in view of the recent people's comments and views touching on sensitive issues.
"He did say they will review and strengthen certain areas that need to be strengthened, and also probably liberalise things in which political dissent and thinking are allowed on a healthy basis," he said.
"(MIC) will discuss it in the Cabinet and among ourselves and give our views," said Subramaniam who, however, agreed that the discussions would not change anything.
"People who don't want the Sedition Act are saying that there are clauses that stop them from giving their views against the government. Even the deputy prime minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) said this should be allowed but those which touch on sensitive areas like religion and unity are the parts that are being addressed. So I think that's probably the direction," Subramaniam added.
MCA deputy president Datuk Wee Ka Siong also said the Cabinet or BN component parties were not consulted on the decision.
He said it was not just retaining the law but rather an overhaul of the act as there will be two aspects that would be added that have to be taken into consideration.
"Whatever it is, people should wait for the draft of the bill before discussing the aspects of the overhaul," he told reporters in Parliament.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim decried Najib's going back on his promise to repeal the Sedition Act, saying it would possibly worsen the situation.
"I regret that Najib has reneged on his undertaking and promise to repeal the act," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.
"He has to honour it, (but) this seems to be the style of flip-flop in his administration," said Anwar, who charged that the government wants to use the act to suppress freedom and oppress the Opposition.
"The trend or tendency is to succumb to pressures from the extreme right on the pretext of defending the Malay community," said Anwar, adding that showed the more progressive forces within the party have probably lost their case.
Meanwhile, Selangor Mentri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali said the reversal revealed Najib's true character as he had many times in the past made the promise to repeal the colonial-era law.
"He had promised to repeal the Sedition Act before the 13th general election and had repeated it many times since then. Now, I think the people can see that Najib is only making promises to get votes and he neither has the courage nor the will to execute his transformation policies," Azmin said when approached by reporters at the State Legislative Assembly Annexe building today.
Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police laud the government's decision to maintain the Sedition Act .
"I greatly welcome it in the current situation where the freedom to speak, freedom of speech and freedom to write all kinds of matters have been widely abused... and the Sedition Act is a law that is suitable to address this situation," Khalid told a media conference after officiating at a Government Green Procurement Implementation seminar here today.