Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (centre) earned the praise of veteran Umno leader Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for keeping the Sedition Act. – Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, November 27, 2014.
Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said on the sidelines of the Umno assembly today: “This is a good thing because things are going like a yo-yo.
“People are taking advantage of sensitivities of racial and religious issues and it is high time the government put its foot down and stop all this nonsense because we cannot afford this in a multi-racial society like ours."
Razaleigh, a former finance minister and the Gua Musang MP, was responding to Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement at the assembly earlier that the colonial-era law will be maintained.
Najib, who is also Umno president, attributed the decision to feedback from various individuals and groups. Despite going back on his pledge two years ago to repeal the law, he added that changes will be made to the act.
"This act will not only be maintained, but strengthened,” he said, adding that a special clause will be included in the act to protect the sanctity of Islam, while other religions also cannot be insulted.
"Secondly, we will insert a clause so that action is taken against anyone who calls for the secession of Sabah and Sarawak," Najib said in his policy speech at the assembly.
After Najib’s announcement, Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil urged Malaysians to live as "one big happy family" and adhere to provisions in the constitution.
"There has to be a limit to politicking. As long as we hold on to the constitution, the country will be safe," she said.
Najib first announced the plan to abolish the act in June 2012, to be replaced by a National Harmony Act. The Sedition Act was amended five times with the last one in 1975.
Of late, there have been growing calls among Pakatan Rakyat leaders, social activists and NGOs to repeal the act as many, apart from politicians, have been hauled up under it.
But, Najib's plan to abolish the act faced objections from Umno leaders and right-wing Malay groups.
In his policy speech yesterday, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia would be ruined without an act that punished people for committing sedition.
Shahrizat in her winding-up speech yesterday said that the act must stay to protect the security, stability and harmony of the country.
People’s Progressive Party president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas, meanwhile, believed that keeping the sedition act would not hurt Najib’s credibility, adding that it was “a perfect solution to the current situation”.
He said the decision showed that Najib was a firm leader.
He described the “current situation” as one where certain parties have used Najib’s promise to repeal the act to stoke inter-communal tensions.
“He is not going back on his promise. When we wanted to repeal the Internal Security Act, we were confident that our unity was strong.
“But then people took advantage of that and acted differently.
“It is the same with the sedition act where we thought the situation was okay. But now the situation is different,” Kayveas told reporters after attending the opening of the Umno general assembly.
He also said Najib’s decision would give Putrajaya more time to decide on how to amend the law.
- TMI
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