National Unity Front chief Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who is a former chief justice, believes that the Sedition Act should not be abolished, but it should instead be amended.

He said the Act should be bolstered to include Articles 3, 152, 153 and 181 of the constitution into Section 3(1)(f) of the Sedition Act.

The mentioned articles constitute Islam as the religion of the Federation, Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, special position of bumiputeras and sovereignty of the Malay rulers.

Speaking at a seminar entitled ‘Islam and Tajdid’ at Universiti Selangor (Unisel) today, Abdul Hamid however believes that the section in the Sedition Act which states that it is an offence to incite against the government should be removed.

“But it should still be an offence to incite against the royal institution.

“This (removing the mentioned section) is more democratic and transparent.

“As it is, even with the (existing) section, the government has never taken action against those who criticise it. So there is no need to maintain the section,” he said.

He added that if the government does not want to be criticised, it should not misuse the Sedition Act, but it should not abolish it, either.

“A government which abolishes a certain law because it is afraid it will misuse it is just the same as someone who sells his car because he is afraid he will be speeding on the road.”

Follow Singapore's example

The former chief justice, who heads the National Unity Front formed by Malay NGOs such as Perkasa, then said that the country should take Singapore as an example.

“Singapore still has the Sedition Act and it won’t hesitate to take legal action against anyone.

“A Christian couple was charged over distributing seditious publications to two Muslims,” he pointed out.

The government has been accused of using the Sedition Act to silence its dissidents, as claimed by the opposition.

Numerous opposition politicians had been hauled to court under the Act, with the latest addition in the dragnet being law lecturer Azmi Sharom who had commented on the 2009 Perak crisis.