NOVEMBER 27 — With the UMNO general assembly currently taking place, we can sense that for some strange reason, this party is feeling threatened like never before.
Let us get one thing clear.
No Malaysian citizen is disputing the sanctity of Islam.
No Malaysian citizen is disputing the rights of the Malays as guaranteed and protected under the Federal Constitution.
No Malaysian is disputing the role of the Conference of Rulers.
No Malaysian is disputing that a change in government can only take place by lawful means.
As a Malaysian, it is very sad that year in year out during the UMNO general assembly, we have to hear words that stab you in the heart being spoken with no regard whatsoever for those who do not belong to the party.
Instead of conducting a progressive and constructive general assembly for the good of the nation as a whole, it has, over the years become a destructive and condemning one.
After all, UMNO is a political party and its agenda is politically driven. We must not forget that fact.
So, as a political party, things spoken and resolutions passed during a political party’s general assembly must and should be related to politics and governance beneficial for the entire nation.
Anything not related to governance should not be made as a topic of discussion because it has the tendency to only hurt. What then is this so called ‘threat’ that is being faced and why is it that the Sedition Act has suddenly become the only protecting force of the Malays?
As pointed out many, many times, the protection of rights of the Malays is guaranteed under the Federal Constitution, which is the highest law in the land, in case we have forgotten that basic fact.
Any other law is sub-servient to the Federal Constitution. So the argument that the Malays need a Sedition Act, which was not even passed by our Parliament anyway, to ensure rights are guaranteed, is absolutely ridiculous.
The preamble of the Sedition Act 1948 states ‘An Act to provide for the punishment of sedition’. It is penal in nature. It is not an act that confers any right to anyone neither can it be construed to mean it is a form of protection to anyone.
We have heard some leaders saying that the Sedition Act is the ‘perisai’(shield) to protect the Malays. Where does one get such a disillusioned notion from no one knows.
Just look around you and see if a non-Malay is threatening the rights of a Malay? You won’t find any.
Just look around and see if a Malay is feeling threatened? You won’t find any.
It is all just a political ploy by a political party which has run out of ideas on how to stay relevant in the current scheme of things, fearing their exit from political office.
They say desperate times call for desperate measures. This is exactly that. A desperate political party trying their very best to cling on to power in the face of change in the political landscape in Malaysia.
There is only one conclusion that you can come to. Because a political party cannot come outright and say that they need the Sedition Act 1948 to combat political dissidence, they say it is needed to protect the Malays. Well, call a spade a spade. There is no other reason.
Having said the above, if Malaysians are clear in their mind that they are not questioning the sanctity of Islam, that they are not questioning the rights of the Malays as protected under the Federal Constitution, that they are not disputing the role of the Conference of Rulers, that they are not planning to overthrow the change the current government by unlawful means but only by lawful means, what other possible basis could there be to charge a person for sedition?
The only basis that comes to mind is perhaps to charge a person in the hope that it will silence a person or persons from pointing out errors or defects in the current government. To that, I might as well plead guilty.
* Puthan Perumal is an advocate and solicitor.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
