'Internal Umno strife delaying Sedition Act repeal'

Differences of opinion on the Sedition Act among Umno leaders are preventing it from being repealed as promised by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said today.

While Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says the act should stay, other cabinet members such as Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz and de facto law minister Nancy Shukri support its abolition, Nurul Izzah told a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

"Najib must therefore explain his real stand on the repealing of the Sedition Act," she said.

“If he does not, the integrity and the credibility of his minority government will continued to be questioned by the people when promises made are not fulfilled,” she added.

Najib in July last year promised that the government would repeal the law and replace it with a ‘National Harmony Act', but the government has since said it will not repeal the law any time soon.

“Zahid’s statement that there will be no law to monitor seditious content if the Sedition Act is repealed is wrong,” she said.

“PKR is of the opinion that Section 505 of the Penal Code is capable of overcoming statements that might create disharmony in the country,” she said.

Umno leaders and cabinet members, Nurul Izzah added, must discuss and settle issues first before such announcements are even made by any minister.