Putrajaya never promised to repeal Sedition Act, says Shahidan

By admin-s Last updated Sep 5, 2014

(The Malaysian Insider) – Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim is insisting that Putrajaya never promised to abolish the Sedition Act but only to review it, two years after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak went on record to repeal the colonial-era law.

This revelation by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department comes amid a blitz against opposition politicians, an academic, a news portal and one of its reporters under the 1948 legislation.

Shahidan said Najib’s previous remarks that new laws would replace the Sedition Act did not mean the colonial-era law would be abolished.

“The prime minister never promised to repeal it, he only pledged to review it. This means the Sedition Act may be replaced with the National Harmony Act but it might not be repealed,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Shahidan’s claim contradicted Najib’s statement on July 11, 2012, when he said the Sedition Act 1948 would be repealed and replaced with a new National Harmony Act as part of the government’s transformation plan.

“With this new act, we would be better equipped to manage our national fault lines.

“It will also help to strengthen national cohesion by protecting national unity and nurturing religious harmony,” Najib had said this in a speech at a dinner with the Attorney-General’s Chambers and it was widely reported by both the mainstream and online media.

Civil society and opposition politicians have since then been pressing the government to fulfil its promise.

A year after his first pledge, Najib told the BBC World News programme on July 2, 2013 that the government would “amend the act but we want to keep Malaysia peaceful and harmonious”.

Last Saturday, in response to criticism over the current sedition dragnet, Putrajaya said new harmony laws were being drafted but defended the recent slew of sedition charges against opposition politicians, adding that the courts were fair to all.

“Until new legislation is in place, existing cases must be tried under existing laws,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The statement also reaffirmed that the Sedition Act would eventually be repealed and replaced by new laws.

But Shahidan, who is the minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, said the Cabinet had yet to discuss repealing the Sedition Act, since no replacement drafts have been brought to the table.

“We do not have the draft for the National Harmony Bill yet, the only draft currently available is from the Bar Council which they uploaded on the Internet and spread it widely as though it is our draft, but from the government’s side, there is nothing yet.”