Putrajaya sees much disharmony in National Harmony Bill

By admin-s On Dec 29, 2014

What is clear now is that Putrajaya doesn’t believe the Harmony bills will address the racial and religious tension and disharmony among Malaysians.

Jimmy Adit, The Ant Daily

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup did not say anything new when he talked to reporters after a meet-the-people session at a Kuching hotel recently.

What is new about the National Harmony Bill having nothing to do with, and not meant to replace, the Sedition Act 1948?

For Malaysians now know too well that the Sedition Act will not only be retained but will be reinforced to give it more bite against unsolicited opinions and proposals, which can only mean that the Harmony Bill will be a different Act altogether.

That being the case, of course the Bill will take time to materialise because it must not repeat what is now contained in the Sedition Act that it was originally intended to replace.

Yes, the National Harmony Bill was supposed to replace the Sedition Act until Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak suddenly realised he needs it now more than ever before.

Those gentlemen responsible for drafting the Bill must be scratching their heads bald because they will now have to start anew on a Bill that is completely different from the Sedition Act.

Kurup could have been more honest to say just that but he chose to speak like a Putrajaya smart Alec that there is a need to consult all stakeholders.

Asked whether the Bill would be tabled in Parliament next year, he said: “We will have to wait for a result from the studies.”

There, he was merely repeating what Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri had said early last month that it was not possible to complete the draft of the Bill this year as many matters had to be scrutinised and studied before it could be tabled in Parliament.

She said it was difficult to set the time frame for the completion of the draft.

It is too easy to see the difficulty. Like I said, the Bill that was originally drafted in such a way that it was to replace the Sedition Act, will now have to be completely different. That’s by no means easy.