3mil Umno members deciding for 30mil citizens

 

The Sedition Act is here to stay. The members of Umno attending their annual general meeting gave a thunderous applause as Najib Abdul Razak, their party president, announced, “Hence I, as the prime minister, decided that the Sedition Act 1948 will remain.”

Najib’s surprise U-turn on his stand comes closely behind the heels of its Youh chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s alarm when he blazed that “without it (the Act) to protect us, the nation would be in ruins”.

But Najib’s shocking announcement was also preceded by a wiser Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) cautioning that “Umno’s power and strength comes from the people’s support. Remember, if the people no longer support us, there is no law on God’s earth that can save Umno from losing power.”

The nation’s 30 million citizens, minus Umno’s 3 million members, would also take note of what Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said, in reaction to the shocking announcement by Najib.

As a member of the National Unity Consultative Council that was convened to draft a new bill to replace the draconian law, Mujahid said the Sedition Act also had a low burden of proof and was exposed to misuse as to the meaning of the word sedition.

He added that in contrast, the proposed National Harmony Act tightened the burden of proof aspect and also offered protection on freedom of speech.

But to what avail? It seems now that Najib has stuck with his mantra of ‘endless possibilities’ like a leech.

What is most perturbing is how millions around the globe will perceive all these.

As Jack Trout advocates, “Perceptions are really what make you and break you,” Najib needs to know foremost that he stood for the entire nation, deciding and speaking on behalf of 30 million Malaysians on the Umno platform that boasts of only 3 million citizens.

A national decision made on a party platform? Should not such a serious decision with far reaching implications and reverberations not have been made in Parliament where the government rules?

And as we examine the sentiments and arguments postulated at the Umno assembly justifying the need for the resurrection of the draconian rule, surely the nation at large will begin to also wander in the window light of Pak Lah’s caution.

Many will also wonder what would Najib do if five million citizens agreed that it has to be a ‘no go’ for the Sedition Act? Would the three million voices of Umno still overrule the majority voice?

The Sedition Act announcement signals loudly that for as long as Umno thinks its enemies are the nation’s own citizens, it has only crippled its hopes for national transformation; and for as long as Umno leaders think that laws alone will protect the party’s relevancy, its members are duped.