BN senators, who make up the majority in the Dewan Negara, rejected the Anti-Fake News (Abolition) Bill 2018 to suit their own political agenda, says Liew Vui Keong.
In a statement, the minister in the Prime MInister's Department said the rejection has a "serious, negative" impact on the country.
"Although the senators, who are not elected, have rights under the Federal Constitution to do so (reject the bill), their act has affected the integrity of the Dewan Rakyat, whose members are elected by the people.
"Their rights should have been exercised for the rakyat's interests, and not for a personal political agenda," he said.
According to Liew, the rejection also reeks of vengeance by the BN senators after their loss in the 14th general election, and was aimed at weakening the Pakatan Harapan administration.
The de facto law minister also claimed that the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 was passed by the previous BN administration "hurriedly and without consultation" with relevant stakeholders.
"The act elicited negative reactions from the rakyat, and the media. It was seen as cracking down on the freedom of speech, especially that of the media.
"Many parties, including NGOs, had called it to be abolished, but the Dewan Rakyat's act of rejecting the abolition bill goes against the spirit of the majority of the rakyat, who want to see the new government 'fix the situation'," he added.
Earlier today, the repeal bill was defeated by bloc voting, which saw 28 senators not supporting the repeal bill, 21 supporting, and three abstaining.
BN senator Khairul Azwan Harun later said that the opposition bench blocked the bid to repeal the act as they believed that the law should be improved rather than abolished. - Mkini
Well PH just use it on them and you will catch plenty.
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