The international community may well mistake Malaysia for North Korea over its reactionary response to US criticism of the country's Sedition Act, said Alor Setar MP Gooi Hsiao Leung.

 

Gooi, who is also PKR International Affairs head, said this in response to Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who told the US not to interfere in the country's affairs.

 

Abdul Rahman had said Malaysia's future was not the US' responsibility after the US embassy acknowledged the Bar Council's recent protest against the Sedition Act and expressed concern.

"It is deplorable for a government minister to make such intolerant remarks in response to the US statement, which urged Putrajaya to apply the rule of law fairly, transparently and apolitically to promote confidence in Malaysia’s democracy, judiciary and economy.

 

"His crass reaction shows an inability to listen and constructively engage opinions and views of others, mirroring the mindset of Perkasa members, and not that of a government minister.

 

"If the world didn’t know better, Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s outburst could easily be mistaken as that of a North Korean minister responding to the US," said Gooi.

He added such a reaction does not bode well in the eyes of the international community especially after Malaysia took up a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC).

 

"How can we be expected to take part in the international role of monitoring and assessing the conduct of other nation states to determine whether they have threatened international peace, or have violated human rights, when we ourselves are not able to constructively engage views of other member states concerning how we manage our own human rights issues in the country," he said.

 

As such, he said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should censure Abdul Rahman to ensure that Malaysia is worthy of its UNSC seat.