Will criticising Umno now be labelled seditious?

By admin-s On Nov 28, 2014

(TMI) – Any criticism that even touches on Islam, the Malays and the rulers will be seen as an attack against Umno, and vice versa.

The hardliners in Umno have won and they want every Malaysian to know this.

Any criticism that even touches on Islam, the Malays and the rulers will be seen as an attack against Umno, and vice versa.

This is the message from the first day of the Umno assembly and the party’s conservatives have proved how influential they are as they have managed to get their president, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to go back on his own word.

And this has serious repercussions for the man on the street, said noted political analyst Prof James Chin, as it could signal an increased clamp down on legitimate dissent.

Grassroots pressure

According to Penang Umno chief Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman, if Najib did not abandon his plans to repeal the Sedition Act, there would have been immense pressure against him.

Delegates to this year’s assembly, who are essentially spokespersons for the party’s ordinary members, would have argued for the Sedition Act to be maintained.

Zainal Abidin said almost all of the party’s over 20,000 branches had discussed the Sedition Act. The consensus was that it should be maintained.

This consensus was then brought to the divisions, to their state committees and in the end, it materialised in the debates at the general assembly.

“So when Najib said he would retain the Act, everyone changed their speeches to thank him instead of pressuring him. If not, the debates would have been more heated,” Zainal Abidin said.