Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is flexing his muscles at Dr Mahathir Mohamad with the latest crackdown on academicians and politicians using the Sedition Act, says PKR.

Its vice-president Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin ( left ) said following a slew of charges placed against opposition politicians and even an academician recently, it seemed that the crackdown was only unleashed after Mahathir criticised Najib. 

Mahathir accused Najib of "being soft" and "silent" on important issues.

"Is Najib wanting to prove to Mahathir that he is strict and will use the Sedition Act on those dissenting with the BN?" Shamsul asked at a press conference at the PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya today.

He also likened the crackdown on those who do not agree with Najib to the strategy used by the Singapore government to silence dissenters.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has urged the government to immediately end the use of the Sedition Act following a slew of charges placed against opposition politicians, activists, and even an academician this year.

Suhakam chairperson Hasmy Agam ( left ) said the commission is "deeply disturbed" by the government's use of an Act that it had promised to repeal all the way back in 2012.

"Such actions by authorities are unwarranted and will continue to curtail citizens' rights to freely debate issues," Hasmy said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Gerakan's Human Rights Bureau chairperson Baljit Singh also called for an immediate "moratorium" on the use of the Sedition Act, saying the party stands firmly by Universiti Malaya associate professor Azmi Sharom, who was charged with Sedition yesterday on comments made about the 2009 Perak crisis.

Baljit said the charge was "against freedom of speech" and was also "inconsistent" with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's promise in 2012 to repeal the Sedition Act.

In a related development, PKR think-tank Institut Rakyat said the continuous use of the 66-year-old Act, formulated under the British colonial era, was proof of the government's "weakness" and "pretence".

"The Peaceful Assembly Act only took less than three months for the government to formulate, the BN government is merely dragging its feet over the abolition of the Sedition Act," it said.

The Act was supposed to be replaced with the National Harmony Act, but a slew of bills prepared by the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) are yet to be adopted by the government.

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