MCA has given credit to its president, Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong, for the cabinet’s decision not to fully abolish the death penalty.
In a statement today, MCA Youth Civil Society Movement Coordination Bureau chairperson Heng Zhi Li described Putrajaya's decision as a victory that belonged to the people.
He, however, distinguished the cabinet’s decision on the abolition of the mandatory death penalty from efforts pushed by Pakatan Harapan's administration four years ago.
"Harapan pushed for the total abolition of the death penalty where those convicted of drug trafficking, crimes, murders, war crimes, and kidnappings will be released after serving their sentences. This is extremely unfair to the victims and their families.
"The MCA Youth wing, in response to the Harapan government's effort, established an anti-death penalty abolition coalition.
"We contacted the families of the victims and NGOs, and we launched a joint signature campaign to oppose the government's total abolition of the death penalty."
After much persuasion by Wee, Heng said the cabinet decided to maintain the death penalty while granting judges discretion in sentencing.
"We believe that the judge will be able to mete out the sentence base on facts and evidence, among other factors. While we retain the death penalty, we also reduce the harm caused by misjudgement," he added.
Harapan’s bill
Harapan, in its manifesto, promised to do away with the mandatory death penalty.
It was reported in July 2019 that then de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said the Harapan government would table a bill to abolish the mandatory death penalty after determining appropriate prison terms for 11 serious criminal offences.
A task force, which was set up to review alternative sentences to the mandatory death penalty, submitted its report to the cabinet in February 2020.
The bill failed to make its way to Parliament as the Harapan administration was ousted in a political plot led by Muhyiddin Yassin together with BN, PAS, and their allies in the same month the report was submitted to the government.
Liew's successor Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar announced yesterday that the government agreed to abolish the mandatory death sentence and would substitute the mandatory provision with other types of punishment that would be decided by the courts.
The cabinet said a further study should be carried out on the proposal to have substitute punishments for 11 offences which carry the mandatory death penalty, one offence under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act, and 22 offences which carry the death sentence but under the discretion of the court.
The existing mandatory death penalty provision means the judge has no option but to sentence the accused to death upon conviction of certain crimes, except if the accused has a mental disorder.
Currently, there are 11 offences under the Penal Code and one under the Dangerous Drugs Act that carries the mandatory death sentence. They include crimes such as murder with intent to kill, drug trafficking, and possession of firearms.
Meanwhile, DAP's Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto expressed hope that the government's decision would be applied retroactively.
"I sincerely hope that the amendments will be retroactive for all the men and women who are currently on death row - tedious as it may be, upholding justice must be the core of this reform and cannot be compromised at any cost.
"According to my parliamentary question on March 10, there are 1,341 men and women on death row in Malaysia, of which 835 or 62.3 percent are Malaysians and 506 foreigners - although there is some recent information that states the number is over 1,800 at this point.
"Over 80 percent of them come from the bottom 40 (B40) of income earner category, are marginalised, and belong to minority groups," she said.
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