'ULTRA-VIRES' UMNO! Najib's proposed additional clauses to Sedition Act ' cannot be done' - ex judge

Putrajaya's plan to strenghten the Sedition Act by including additional provisions might be ultra vires the Federal Constitution, The Star reported a former judge as saying.

Former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Noor Abdullah said it would be unconstitutional to amend the colonia-era law based on the notion that the additional provisions form part of Malay supremacy rights.

"There were proposals made during the recent Umno general assembly that the rakyat cannot question the status of rulers and also Islam, Malay Reserve Land and the Royal Malay Regiment as they are part of Malay supremacy rights.

"In my opinion, such amendments would be ultra vires (beyond the scope of the constitution) and cannot be done,” he was quoted as saying when addressing a roundtable gathering organised by Gagasan Generasi Progresif (GGP) to “Champion the Urbanisation of Malays” .

At the Umno assembly last month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Umno president, had announced that the Sedition Act would be retained and further strenghtened by making it a crime to insult Islam and other faiths, as well as prohibiting talks on Sabah and Sarawak leaving Malaysia.

Mohd Noor, who is a leading constitutional expert, said restrictions against questioning were only limited to rights granted to citizenship and status of the Malay language, Bumiputra rights and the rulers which were guaranteed under Articles 10, 152, 153 and 181 of the Federal Constitution.

The English daily reported that Mohd Noor instead suggested that the proposed amendments made it an offence for those who wanted to incite any states to leave Malaysia.

“There should also be a provision to restrict a person advocating or propagating publicly the cause of one own’s race to the exclusion of all other races,” he was quoted as saying.

He lamented that “racial tagging” had led to increased racial polarisation and pointed out that the constitution also protected the rights of other communities while acknowledging the rights of the Malays.

To foster inclusiveness, The Star said Mohd Noor suggested that the country do away with race-based politics.

Datuk Mohd Noor Abdullah

Najib's decision to retain the Sedition Act had been criticised by numerous quarters. Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said that progressive forces within Umno were losing their case as they were succumbing to pressure from the extreme right on the precept of defending the Malays.

The move was a U-turn to Najib's first pledge to abolish the act in June 2012, to be replaced by a National Harmony Act, as part of his reform agenda.

He had repeated his commitment in an interview with British broadcaster BBC's World News programme a year later and again in September this year.

However, his plan faced objections from Umno leaders and right-wing supporters.

MIC deputy president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam had confirmed that his party and the Cabinet were not consulted prior to the unilateral announcement to retain the Act. – TMI