'It's BN, not Adam, that's detrimental to democracy'

Pakatan Rakyat today hit out at the BN government for investigating student activist Adam Adli for allegedly being detrimental to parliamentary democracy, and claims that it is the ruling coalition that has threatened parliamentary democracy instead.

In a joint statement by PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan, DAP Youth chief Teo Kok Seong and PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin (left), the trio said that BN has destroyed democracy by clinging to power although it does not have the support of the majority.

"It is BN that is detrimental to parliamentary democracy, and not Adam Adli. BN has destroyed the value of democracy by continuing to shamelessly rule despite having less than 50 percent of the support in Malaysia," they said.

In the 13th general election, BN won 60 percent of seats in Parliament despite only winning 47 percent of the popular vote compared to Pakatan, which only won 40 percent of parliamentary seats even though it captured 51 percent of the popular vote.

"In fact, in 2009, BN did not respect the will of the people in seizing the state government in Perak and who heaved the speaker out of the state assembly in broad daylight," they said.

Adam (right), who is also being investigated for sedition, brings Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's credibility into question as the premier had previously promised to abolish the Sedition Act, said the trio.

"This shows that Najib was only putting on a show and has no political will to abolish laws that do not live up to the spirit of the constitution," they added.

Worse off, they said no action had been taken against individuals who fanned racial sentiments, such as former Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali who called for Bible-burning, former Kulim-Bandar Baru MP Zulkifli Noordin who insulted Hinduism and ex-Court of Appeal Judge Mohd Noor Abdullah who warned the Chinese community of a backlash for voting against the ruling coalition.

The Pakatan youth chiefs noted that Adam's call for street demonstrations to protest against electoral fraud was neither seditious nor detrimental to parliamentary democracy as it was a right enshrined in the federal constitution.

'Khairy should speak up'
The trio also urged Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin - who is the newly-minted youth and sports minister - to make his stance clear on whether he was prepared to defend Adam.

"Khairy (right) should defend Adam's constitutional right if he indeed intends to fulfil the aspiration of youths."

They called for an end to what they term as "political persecution", and the abolition of draconian laws.

"As long as there is no clean and fair election for the people, more Adam Adlis will arise and fight for Malaysia," they stressed.

In another joint statement, newly-minted Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari and Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim Chee Keong urged Adam's release and that charges against Seri Setia state assemblyperson Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad for his involvement in the Blackout rally in Kelana Jaya be dropped.

"We hope the federal government will stop persecuting and charging those who gather peacefully to express their views," they added.