Thanks for passing anti-terror bill, academic tells Pakatan MPs

Universiti Malaya associate professor Dr Azmi Sharom says extremism has been given the space to flourish in this country. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, April 8, 2015.Universiti Malaya associate professor Dr Azmi Sharom poked fun at Pakatan Rakyat, "thanking" them for allowing the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) to be passed in Parliament early yesterday.

Azmi, who was charged under the Sedition Act last year, was in fact fuming at the opposition coalition, who were beaten by a mere 19 votes in the Dewan Rakyat where they were fighting against the new law, which allows for detention without trial.

"Let's give a big round of applause to the Pakatan Rakyat MPs who, God knows where they were, when they should have been voting against Pota. Thank you very much.

"Where on earth were you? You could have defeated this law... because you know where the BN fellows are at 2 o'clock in the morning. You could have been there to defeat it.

"I am so irritated that I am being extremely immoderate," he said to laughter from some 150 people who attended a forum titled "What is a Moderate Malaysia for Malaysians?" in Kuala Lumpur last night.

The Pota bill was passed at the Dewan Rakyat at 2.25am yesterday after almost 14 hours of debate.

The final vote taken favoured the government with 79 from Barisan Nasional supporting it and 60 from the opposition against it.

Pakatan won 89 seats in the last general election but now has 86 members of parliament after the sacking of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, losing the previously held DAP set in Teluk Intan and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's conviction.

Azmi, in his heated tirade against both Pakatan and BN lawmakers, said the leadership of the country was "utterly useless".

"The leadership is absolutely, utterly useless. And when I say leadership, I mean all of them... Barisan and Pakatan."

Warning against the Pota, he said the new law was exactly the same as the repealed Internal Security Act (ISA), a notion shared by opposition lawmakers who were concerned that it might be used against them.

"They said the exact same thing then... that the ISA was only for insurgents and terrorists... that it would not be used against politicians.

"But it didn't take long for dissidents to be put away. That is how bad it is. We are going so far backwards."

Refusing to be labelled a "moderate", Azmi said even Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who was known for his extremist and supremacist views, considered himself a moderate.

"It gives this notion that we are reasonable human beings... that we can somehow strike a middle path. But that time has gone, passed."

The law lecturer said the issues facing the country in terms of growing extremism were not about those who spouted hatred but given space to flourish.

"And this is not something new. It is not all Najib and Rosmah's fault," he said, referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

"It has been going on for years. Tun Dr Mahathir (Mohamad), the most perfect prime minister in the world, was the one who put us in a position where we don't trust our institutions any more. The institution that we have lost trust the most is the judiciary." – April 8, 2015.