KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — PAS has urged the Pakatan Harapan (PH) to retain the Sedition Act 1948 but said its use should not be abused.
Its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said the Act is needed to safeguard Malaysia, much like the abolished Internal Security Act 1960, which was then abused.
“Does the calls to have the Sedition Act abolished means all incitement is allowed? Sometimes, that seems to be the case.
“This is what happens when a political struggle is for the interest of an individual or a group while disregarding the nation as a whole and [fail to realise] that this is a tenet to uphold the country,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Abdul Hadi said although PAS had became the victim of abuse of the Sedition Act, the party had supported the Act for it to safeguard the country from the attacks from Communists.
He said the Federal government should discuss on clarifying what should be deemed as seditious instead of abolishing the Act.
Abdul Hadi’s statement came following Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s clarification on Thursday that the government is looking into replacing the Sedition Act with new laws.
Repealing the Sedition Act was one of the law reforms promised in the PH election manifesto.
