MALAYSIANS HAVE THEMSELVES TO BLAME FOR RETENTION OF SEDITION ACT

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians have only themselves to blame for the retention of the Sedition Act 1948 as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had "noble will" to abolish it, but was made to think twice due to "idiotic" behaviour, said Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan(photo).

"It was not easy for the Prime Minister to rescind his earlier promise to abolish the #SeditionAct. We made him do it. He was ready. 

But we Malaysians were not," said the Kota Belud MP via his official @mpkotabelud Twitter account on Thursday evening.

Abdul Rahman, who is also Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister, added that Najib had "noble will" to repeal the Act, but Malaysians betrayed Najib's trust and could not reciprocate his goodwill.

He also said that instead of giving Najib confidence that things would be all right after the Act was repealed, Malaysians gave him "nightmares" instead.

"No Prime Minister worth his salt would repeal the Sedition Act after seeing how we could be capable of spewing hatred and venom at each other!

"So the Prime Minister acted rightly. He monitored. He listened. He evaluated.  He didn't like what he saw. Don't blame him. Blame ourselves.

"Even before it was officially abolished, lots of us were behaving like idiots," said Abdul Rahman in a series of tweets.

He added that the stability of Malaysia rests squarely on Najib's shoulders.

"So Mr PM, do what you think is right. We support you," he said.

He went on to say that with or without the Sedition Act, no one was prevented from criticising Government policies. 

"That right still exists. Even now it exists with so much latitude," he said in a series of further tweets.

Abdul Rahman had also tweeted that it was more than a political issue to call for the independence of Sabah and Sarawak.

"It is seditious to talk about removing Sabah from Malaysia, it is not a political issue. It is a national security issue and must be dealt with firmly.

"I thank Najib for making the right decision to make it an offence under the Sedition Act to make secession (calls) seditious. 

The Government is responsible for the safety and security of the nation. Not the Opposition" said Abdul Rahman.

Source: The Star