KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — As the world celebrates press freedom day today, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng criticised Putrajaya's alleged anti-free speech policies and slammed the Najib administration for backtracking on its pledge for political reform.

Lim noted that a free press and freedom expression are key components in a democracy and enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but the Barisan Nasional government has continued to clamp down on dissent via the mass arrest of those who joined the peaceful the anti-Goods and Services Tax rally on May 1.

The Bagan MP said Putrajaya did not respect for civil liberties despite portraying itself as a government that champions equal rights, pointing to the introduction of laws that allows for arbitrary detention and amending the Sedition Act to give the police greater powers to silence critics.

"The recent draconian amendments to the Sedition Act by specifically extending its scope to the online media, will only lead to more opportunities for its abuse by the authorities including against journalists, bloggers and editors.

"What is truly disturbing is that the draconian amendments to the Sedition Act were made despite the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak having promised three times to repeal the act.

 "Truly the draconian amendments were intended to be manipulated as a political weapon against those who oppose BN as witnessed by the recent mass arrests of anti-GST demonstrators," Lim said in a statement.

The Penang chief minister also raised Malaysia's consistent poor ranking in the World Press Freedom as a case in point. Malaysia ranked 147 out of 180 countries according to the 2015 rankings compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The arrests and detention of editors from online news portal The Malaysian Insider, an executive from business daily The Edge and political cartoonist Zunar under the Sedition Act further evidenced that Putrajaya intends to muzzle free speech, he added.

Lim also highlighted the fact that Putrajaya has refused to celebrate World Press Freedom day despite the government's lobbying for a seat in the Unesco executive board for the 2015-2019 term, an organisation that campaigns for free press.

He said if Malaysia wants to uphold the full responsibilities of a member of the executive board in Unesco, the Najib administration must abolish the Sedition Act and celebrate the values of press freedom.

Lim added that Putrajaya must make public commitment to improve Malaysia’s World Press Freedom Index ranking to a top 50 position in the next 3 year and fulfill and deliver on the thrice-repeated promise by to repeal the Sedition Act.