Is the Najib admin on autopilot, asks DAP

Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration is accused of functioning on autopilot for insisting that the slew of sedition charges against Pakatan Rakyat leaders is a court matter. – The Malaysian Insider pic, August 31, 2014.

DAP today asked whether Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration was functioning on autopilot for insisting that the slew of sedition charges against Pakatan Rakyat leaders was a court matter and had nothing to do with the government.

Its parliamentary leader, Lim Kit Siang, said Malaysians were entitled to ask the question following an anonymous statement from the Prime Minister's Office yesterday.

"Is the Najib administration the most shambolic premiership in Malaysian history with the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing?" he asked at an annual ritual ceremony for Batu Sumpah Keningau today.

The Batu Sumpah Keningau is a monument in Keningau, Sabah, erected to commemorate the terms in which the former British crown colony of North Borneo joined the former colony of Sarawak and the other states of the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia.

Lim said this in response to the PMO's statement which stated that: "Any charges under the Sedition Act are a matter for the courts. Malaysia’s judiciary is independent, as the verdicts of many cases prove.”

He said the statement, however, insisted that despite the sedition charging spree, the colonial era Sedition Act would still be replaced by the National Harmony Bill.

The statement added until the new legislation was in place, existing cases must be tried under existing laws.

"Firstly, who issued the statement? Why is it anonymous?" he said.

Secondly, he said the statement revealed those in authority appeared to have no idea of what they were doing.

"It is shocking that those responsible for the statement do not seem to understand that in the dock of criticism for the slew of sedition charges is the Attorney-General (A-G) and not the judiciary."

Lim said Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail was vested with discretionary powers to initiate charges but he owed a duty of public accountability to explain that he was not guilty of selective prosecution against Pakatan leaders.

Thirdly, he said the A-G is the chief prosecutor of the Najib adminstration and must reflect the policies pledged by the prime minister.

"The slew of prosecutions against Pakatan leaders, as well as new-fangled criminal charges unheard of even in the era of Mahathir, is a blatant and flagrant violation of Najib's “best democracy” pledge."

Lim said no credible prime minister would promise to make Malaysia the “best democracy in the world” and yet allow his A-G to launch a prosecution dragnet against opposition leaders and dissent.

"Or is anyone seriously suggesting that Abdul Gani is empowered to go against the policies and pledges of the prime minister without having to resign or be sacked from office?"

Lim also asked whether there were forces within the government who were set on Malaysia joining the ranks of the “worst democracies” in the world.

Last week, Padang Serai MP N. Surendran, Shah Alam MP and PAS central committee member Khalid Samad, and DAP Seri Delima assemblyman R. S. N. Rayer were charged for sedition.

PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli was charged with breaching peace for insulting Umno members while former Perak MP and Changkat Jering assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin was charged with criminal defamation for a statement he had allegedly made two years ago.

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and PKR Batu MP Tian Chua are also facing trial for sedition.

- TMI