Sedition Act amendments preserve democracy, says Najib

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak defends the Sedition Act, saying it preserves democracy in the country. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, May 14, 2015.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today defended the Sedition Act, saying that the controversial amendments to the draconian law passed in Parliament recently, will preserve democracy, despite critics claiming otherwise.

He said the amendments were also made to ensure that matters of religion were not taken lightly anymore.

"In fact, it is now not an offence to criticise the government. In the previous Sedition Act, it was," he said before launching the Institut Wasatiyyah (Moderate) Malaysia at his official residence in Putrajaya.

"But to incite the people to topple the government without democratic process is an offence. Many think that the amendments are a breach to democracy but in fact, they preserve democracy."

He warned that those who were keen on sparking ill intentions would have to face the law.

‎The prime minister, who was speaking about the importance of wasatiyyah or moderation in Islam, said the Western world believed in absolute freedom of expression, even though certain acts might hurt the feelings of other religions.

"Islam is smeared with many provocations, as can be seen in the Charlie Hebdo incident.

"But in Europe, they see this as freedom of expression.‎ What they prioritise is openness. They don't differentiate between freedom of expression with freedom to offend.

"Even if they disturb the feelings of others, it is all right. ‎What's important is the right to express yourself without limitations.”

He added that this had instead incited violence and hatred towards Islam, smearing the name of the religion all around the world.

‎"Then we see the rise of many hate preachers, whose names I don't have to mention.

"‎Do the Muslims have the right frame of mind to face these situations? What is sad is that there are some Muslims who seem to glorify western values which caused extreme actions that deviates from the basic principles of Islam.

“‎These Muslims, have deviated the meaning and concept of Islamic jihad, causing the image of the religion to be smeared further.

"For this purpose, the government introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota)‎ after submitting a white paper on the threat of terrorism in the country."

The police has detected movement of terrorists in the country, although some have accused ‎the government of using state-controlled media to "stage manage" the situation, he said.

"Do we want a catastrophe and disaster to happen first and then only we admit that this threat is real and should be handled?

‎"As leaders of the government, there‎ is no space for us to compromise issues and ideologies that can ruin the fabric that unites us as Malaysians.”

- TMI