PKR MP questions party's move to 'abandon' royal critic
Hassan Abdul Karim appears to be the sole voice in PKR to question the party’s stand with regard to a member who was detained over his remarks about the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Noting that Iswardy Morni does not hold official positions in the party, the Pasir Gudang MP, however, asked if...
Hassan Abdul Karim appears to be the sole voice in PKR to question the party’s stand with regard to a member who was detained over his remarks about the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Noting that Iswardy Morni does not hold official positions in the party, the Pasir Gudang MP, however, asked if it was appropriate to “abandon or discard him just like that”.
Furthermore, Hassan said police are investigating the Sarawak PKR member under the Sedition Act.
“Isn’t it PKR’s stand to abolish the Sedition Act? Are we no longer interested in such reforms?” he queried in a statement this afternoon.
Hassan (above) said while PKR might not agree with Iswardy’s comments, it has often cited Article 10 of the Federal Constitution pertaining to the people’s right to express themselves.
“Is this how a party premised on reforms treats its ordinary members?” he added.
Iswardy was detained on May 29 after his YouTube video was circulated on social media.
Apart from the Sedition Act, he is also being investigated under Section 504 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Following this, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil recently said that Iswardy’s views do not represent the party’s stand.
“We wish to verify that Iswardy is only an ordinary member registered under the Petra Jaya division in Sarawak and does not hold any leadership position in the division and central leadership.
“His statements therefore do not represent PKR, a party which upholds and defends the conference of rulers as stated in the party constitution,” he added.
Fahmi revealed that PKR had issued warnings to Iswardy over his previous video content and will not hesitate to take strong action, including sacking him from the party, over the latest incident.
“But since the issue is now under investigation by the police, we will await the outcome of the investigation before taking further action against him,” he added.
Meanwhile, various quarters, including PKR’s political rivals, called for action to be taken on the matter.
Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin, on the other hand, warned that acts of belittling the monarch could lead to public unrest.
Describing it as an “unpatriotic and irresponsible” act, he said the Home Ministry has asked the police to monitor the situation and take stern action against those who commit such offences so as to protect the royal institution, rule of law and maintain public order.
