KUALA LUMPUR, 22 Oct: The Bukit Katil Member of Parliament, Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin, questioned the move by the Dewan Rakyat to reject the Sedition Act 1948 issue from being debated.
He said that this move clearly ignores the basic rights for the people to speak, as enshrined in the constitution.
He said that prosecution using the Act has increased and is an effort by the government led by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to prevent the people’s uprising as they are now unsatisfied with his leadership.
“There has been an increase of over 1,000 percent in prosecutions in this case. That is why I and some Members of Parliament want this matter to be debated, but it was rejected.
“I hope that it can be debated during the debate on the budget,” he said during a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.
The PKR Vice President hopes that the Prime Minister will fulfill his earlier promise to repeal the Act, in line with the slogan Promises Fulfilled’.
The Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, said in his reply letter to Shamsul that the repeal of the act must be done through a legal process and must comply with the requirements enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
NS