‘Disagreement within govt’ caused failure to abolish Sedition Act

 DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo said DAP has been adamant that the law should be abolished, but there was a need for a consensus among the various parties in government.

Speaking at a fundraising dinner, DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo said the party would not budge from its stand that the Sedition Act must be abolished.

PUCHONG:

 The failure to abolish the Sedition Act as promised by Pakatan Harapan was caused by disagreements among component parties in the unity government, DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo said today.

He said DAP has been adamant that the law, which critics label as draconian, should be abolished, but there was a need for a consensus among the various parties in government, before a decision is made.

“But because there is no agreement, it cannot be done at the moment. It is important to understand the process involved for implementing reforms,” he said at a DAP fundraising dinner tonight.

However, DAP would not budge from its stand that the Act must be abolished, he said.

Present at the dinner were party secretary-general Loke Siew Fook, the prime minister’s senior political adviser Tengku Zafrul Aziz and Selangor PH chairman Amirudin Shari.

In January, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the government was committed to reviewing the Sedition Act: it would be used in a sparing and limited manner, namely for cases involving insults to the royal institution and matters that can threaten national sovereignty.

A month later, the Dewan Rakyat was told that police had opened 1,222 investigation papers under the Sedition Act between 2010 and 2025, with 130 people charged in court in that period. - FMT