KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 27): Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s sedition charge shows a clear failure by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and a betrayal of their previous promise to repeal the draconian law, said Lawyers for Liberty.
“Have they forgotten how the late Karpal Singh was branded as ‘derhaka’ for questioning the Sultan of Perak in 2008? Or how PH themselves were accused of disloyalty to the King for questioning the decision to call for an emergency in 2021?” the group’s director Zaid Malek said in a statement.
Zaid contended that it is not seditious to question or criticise the exercise of constitutional power by the King as the Yang di Pertuan Agong is a constitutional monarch and not a feudal ruler. That allows the exercise of his powers to be debated, questioned or criticised, he argued.
“This is the very bedrock of our system of constitutional monarchy,” he said. “Those who have been agitating for Muhyiddin to be charged are tainting the very basic structure of our constitution by importing into it feudalism.”
The statement comes after Muhyiddin — who is also the chairman of Perikatan Nasional and president of Bersatu — was hit with a sedition charge over his speech during the Nenggiri state by-election campaign.
He allegedly questioned the then 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s discretion in not summoning him when he claimed to have the support of 115 members of Parliament after the 15th general election to form the government.
PH and Umno politicians from the government have been at the forefront of what Zaid called a “politically motivated campaign”. Now that they hold federal power, they are ruthlessly wielding the same weapon they deemed oppressive when it was used against them, he noted.
Nothing has changed since then that would justify the PH-led government's continued use of colonial-era legislation, Zaid said.
That law is an “affront to democracy and the freedom of speech and expression” under Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution, he stressed, adding that its legislative history is replete with the suppression and oppression of dissenting voices to protect those in power.
“We urge the Unity Government, especially those from PH, to refrain from the use of the Sedition Act and take immediate steps to repeal it,” Zaid said. “The Act must be put to rest and not be allowed to haunt our nation any longer.”