A “black day” for Malaysia as PCA passed, and the debate goes on

The passing of the revised Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) hours ago showed that the Prime Minister succumbed to right-wing pressure within Umno and reneged on his promise not to use preventive laws, opposition MPs said today.

“He has no guts to bring about reforms. We will look bad on the international stage," said PKR Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin.

While the opposition called it a black day for the country, Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers were convinced the revised law would help bring down the crime rate.

Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan expressed confidence that the crime rate would be reduced and said the opposition’s arguments against the amendments had no merit.

The PCA now includes detention without trial, restrictions on judicial reviews, secrecy provisions and a recital of Article 149 in the preamble, all of which the opposition says is inconsistent with basic human rights guaranteed in the Federal Constitution.

During debates at the committee stage of the PCA, several opposition lawmakers, including N. Surendran (PKR – Padang Serai), R. Sivarasa (PKR – Subang), Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (PAS – Sepang), Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan (PAS – Kota Bharu), Nga Kor Ming (DAP – Taiping) and Gobind Singh (DAP – Puchong) argued that the amendments be re-looked.

"They were trying to politicise the issue. But with this law, Malaysians will feel safer and the crime rate will come down," Kamalanathan said.

In response Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin (PKR – Bukit Katil) said it was ridiculous for BN MPs to describe the opposition lawmakers' arguments as baseless.

"It is the government that went back on its promises. This is a black day for Malaysia," he shot back.

Former First Admiral Mohamad Abd Hamid (PAS – Lumut) said that the reasonable arguments put forward by legal experts from Pakatan Rakyat were lost on BN MPs.

"The amendments go against the Federal Constitution and do not side with the rakyat," he said.

Mohamad also said that Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi did not explain nor respond well to the points raised by opposition lawmakers.

"The minister instead gave the example of a CCTV recording showing a coffee shop patron being shot by two persons on a motorbike wearing full-faced helmets. How will these new amendments unveil the culprits?

"Can they be certain of who they detain since they could not see their faces? Is this justice?" he asked, adding that the amendments were also against Islamic principles.

Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani (BN-Titiwangsa), however, called the amendments to the PCA a “temporary measure” to address skyrocketing serious crimes.

"Once we beef up our policing system, we will slowly cut back on using this law.

"This is not a permanent solution. After we manage to control the crime rate, we will revert to taking criminals through the normal court process," he added.

Opposition MPs had proposed changes to the government's amendments earlier this week, but were defeated at every division vote and voice vote.

However, Ahmad Zahid allowed some minor changes, including adding two more members to the proposed three-man Prevention of Crime Board which will have the power to decide a detainee’s fate.