Saifuddin: Urge PM to repeal Sedition Act
National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) member Saifuddin Abdullah believes that the rakyat should encourage Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to repeal the Sedition Act.
National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) member Saifuddin Abdullah believes that the rakyat should encourage Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to repeal the Sedition Act.
Addressing the National Young Lawyer Committee's launch of the #MansuhAktaHasutan campaign, the former deputy higher education minister, was asked whether the prime minister would listen to the rakyat’s demands.
"I believe he will listen. (But) what is more important is for him to know that the campaign is going on.
"The rakyat should encourage him to do it (repeal the Sedition Act). (Because) not everyone around him is on the same page with him."
However, Saifuddin, who is chief executive officer of the Global Movement of Moderates, warned of attempts to sabotage the process of abolishing the Act.
"As soon as the Act is repealed, there might be people who want to manufacture incitement.
" Just look at what had happened after the Internal Security Act (ISA) was repealed," Saifuddin ( left ) said.
He had earlier lamented how the spate of charges under the Act had shown how the government seemed to be "cracking down on dissent".
"We are experiencing a situation where the culture of fear is being escalated.
"My worry is that this intensified cracking down on dissent would give space to people who may want to rewrite the Constitution through the back channel," he warned.
Explaining this to Malaysiakini later, he said that for example, some might interpret a court order to his or her liking without fear of punishment.
"When the intellectuals are too afraid to tell them they are wrong, that's how the constitution is 're-written'," he said.
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