Why has the government not abolished the Sedition Act?

A common grouse against the Madani reformist Government of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is its failure to-date to fulfil many campaign promises, amongst of which the most notable being its pledge to repeal the Sedition Act 1948. This Act was originally enacted by the colonial authorities of British Malaya in 1948 to contain the local communist insurgence. Now that the communists are no longer a threat (real or imagined), what use then is the Sedition Act in today's context? Well, basically anyone who plots to overthrow the government can be charged under the Act and, if found guilty, can be imprisoned for up to 3 years or fined RM5,000, or both. Let's examine the Act.

Under Section 3(1), those acts defined as having a "seditious tendency" are acts with a tendency:

(a) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or against any Government;

(b) to excite the subjects of the Ruler or the inhabitants of any territory governed by any government to attempt to procure in the territory of the Ruler or governed by the Government, the alteration, otherwise than by lawful means, of any matter as by law established;

(c) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the administration of justice in Malaysia or in any State;

(d) to raise discontent or disaffection amongst the subjects of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or of the Ruler of any State or amongst the inhabitants of Malaysia or of any State;

(e) to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia; or

(f) to question any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of part III of the Federal constitution or Article 152, 153 or 181 of the Federal Constitution.

For an Act that has been challenged as being unconstitutional, these are very wide sweeping powers indeed to fortify the almost unassailable position of the incumbent powers-that-be and silence dissent. 

However, Section 3(2) provides certain exceptions, providing examples of speech which cannot be deemed seditious. It is not seditious to "show that any Ruler has been misled or mistaken in any of his measures", nor is it seditious "to point out errors or defects in the Government or Constitution as by law established". It is also not seditious "to attempt to procure by lawful means the alteration of any matter in the territory of such Government as by law established" or "to point out, with a view to their removal, any matters producing or having a tendency to produce feelings of ill-will and enmity between different races or classes of the population of the Federation". However, the act explicitly states that any matter covered by subsection (1)(f), namely those matters pertaining to the Malaysian social contract, cannot have these exceptions applied to it.

 It is small wonder that the government of the day is slow to repeal an Act which obviously protects incumbency. It is to be seen whether this dragging of feet on reforms will adversely affect the Madani Government come the 12 Aug 2023 state elections which will be held in 6 peninsular states, namely Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Penang, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor. It will not affect hardcore supporters of the Madani Government, but the fence-sitters who are being hotly-courted by both sides of the political divide may be swayed or they may spoil their votes in protest. We shall see.