Broken promises cost Najib his dignity, not political career

Going against his 2012 pledge to abolish the Sedition Act, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced in the Umno general assembly that it would be instead retained and reinforced.

According to a video of his speech at the AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers dinner, Najib said, “The government has decided to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 and replace it with a new bill known as the National Harmony Act… The decision to repeal the Sedition Act was made because we wanted to find a mechanism to determine the best balance between the need to ensure freedom of speech for all citizens in accordance with the Federal Constitution, and the need to respect the diversities that exist in the country…”

So there we have in 2012 the justification to repeal the act because there is a need to respect the diversity of the country.

But in 2014, the act will not only be retained but fortified for two reasons. The first is to protect the sanctity of Islam and also to prohibit other religions from being insulted. The second is to include provisions can be taken against those who advocate that Sabah and Sarawak should leave Malaysia.

Najib’s U-turn decision won applause among Umno members but irked others, especially the opposition parties and human rights groups regarding his commitment to political and democratic reform.

His announcement to some extent was unexpected especially as Malaysia also wears many international hats, being for instance a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and the 2015 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) chair.

Was the decision a political survival strategy?

Or as the prime minister said, was the Sedition Act retained because Umno wanted it?

I quote, “If the voices of Umno want the Sedition Act maintained, then I choose to maintain it.”

The problem is not all Malaysians are Umno supporters.

How about the voices of other Malaysians?

The U-turn decision has in fact widened the gap between Malays and non-Malays.

Since the 2008 general election popularly known as the “political tsunami”, the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) has been under a lot of pressure to win back the Malaysian voters.

Calls have also increased for BN to re-design its strategies in dealing with race-based politics.

But rather than do away with race-based politics, BN is instead intensifying it for their own interests.

The speeches and response of Umno leaders in the recently concluded Umno assembly prove just as much.

They tell us that Umno’s key priority is to ensure that particular interests are safeguarded.

They also tell us that religion and race are being used for Umno’s political purposes.

Malays are manipulated by Umno to hold on to political power, and even worse, Islam itself is now turning into a political ideology, not a religion.

Saying that we need the Sedition Act to maintain peace and harmony simply implies that we have weak leaders to govern this country. – December 1, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.