Malaysia has lost the moral authority to assume the Asean chairpersonship with the spate of political persecutions it has undertaken over the past few months.

PKR parliamentarian Nurul Izzah Anwar ( pix ) said as Malaysia takes over the reins of the Asean chairmanship this year, the government should showcase moral authority and a principled courage to lead.

“Unfortunately, leadership is lost as the prime minister (Najib Abdul Razak) reneged on his promise to repeal the Sedition Act last year,” said the PKR vice-president in a statement today.

“Najib must end this spate of persecutions or do the needful by relinquishing Malaysia’s position in both the United Nations Security Council and the Asean chairmanship," she said.

Activists arrested

The Lembah Pantai MP expressed dismay with the continuous 'selective and wanton use' of the Sedition Act to prevent opposition leaders and civil rights activists from voicing out against clear-cut abuse and flaws in the country's democratic institutions.

She pointed out that cartoonist Zunar was arrested on Feb 11 for criticising the judiciary, a day after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was jailed again for sodomy, while Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan was arrested yesterday.

Both Zunar and Arutchelvan were arrested under the Sedition Act for their opinions against Anwar's conviction.

"The people should be free to exercise their right to criticise the government without fear of reprisal from the authorities. No government is infallible, least of all one which makes political persecution it's raison d'etre ," said Nurul.