The wing's chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said that such remarks are feared to spark "worrying" incidents.
"We, Umno Wanita unanimously disagree the move to abolish the act for the sake of the nation security and harmony," she said at a briefing on the Sedition Act for the wing in Kuala Lumpur.
"I believe security and harmony issue stand above the religious, ethnicity and political understanding."Many of the people we spoke to fear that the current issues may cause something worrying to erupt, especially in issues relates to religious, race and royal institution," she said.
Shahrizat (middle in picture) said many issues raised by those spoken to are caused by seditious remarks and freedom on social media.
As such, the wing will submit a memorandum to urge the premier to postpone the abolishment, she said.
It will also embark on a one-million-signature petition campaign so the voices of those against the abolition will be heard in cabinet.
Najib had in 2012 promised to repeal the Sedition Act but this year said the government is undecided on whether to repeal it, retain it or replace it with the National Harmony Act.
Harmony Act insufficient
Meanwhile, Shahrizat opined that the National Harmony Act may not be able to ensure the security of the nation.
However, she was unable to articulate what is lacking in the proposed draft of the Bills.
The drafts were proposed by the National Unity Consultative Council with assistance by the Bar Council.
Although the government has stressed that this is not the official draft, Shahrizat still reminded the authorities to not just listen to the Bar Council.
"The women's voices must be heard before any decision on the abolition of Sedition Act and the drafting of new law," said Shahrizat, who trained as a lawyer.
She
also claimed that public feedback showed that women especially feared
for the nation’s security, but could not furnish statistics to support
this."We will get you the one-million signature," she told a press conference after a closed-door forum dubbed "Understand the Sedition Act" organised by its legal bureau.
Shahrizat said the wing will also embark on a nationwide roadshow to warn the public on the importance of the Sedition Act, which critics say is draconian.
Among the speakers at the closed-door function today were former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan (above) and pro-Sedition Act activist lawyer Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz.
The duo also called for the Act to stay, further advocating that it be amended to introduce the death penalty for repeat offenders.
Another panellist was Salahuddin Saidin, a former deputy public prosecutor turned barrister.
Media were not allowed to observe the forum, but was invited to take a photograph of about 400 Wanita Umno members raising their hands in support of the Sedition Act and the revival of Internal Security Act (ISA).
However, Shahrizat made no mention of the ISA during the press conference.
Mum on NFC
She also refused to comment on the National Feedlot Corporation scandal, involving her family members, stressing that she will only speak of the topic today.
She
was asked if her family had suffered from financial problems after the
NFC’s assets and accounts were frozen following the Auditor’s General
Report on the firm’s National Feedlot Centre (NFC).The firm was given a soft loan of RM250 million to run the project, but the audit found targets were not met.
The firm’s chairperson and Shahrizat’s husband, Mohamad Salleh Ismail (above) was charged for criminal breach of trust.
The government last week said it will now terminate the firm’s contract.
In response, the company said if not for the “lies” spread by the Opposition, and the government’ failure to build a promised abattoir, NFC would be a success.
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