KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah and Sarawak leaders have welcomed the prime minister’s decision to retain the Sedition Act 1948.
They also lauded the decision for the inclusion of a new provision to prosecute those who propagate the secession of Sabah and Sarawak.
Any movement to split the country must be dealt with, said Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Musa Aman.
“We cannot allow them to spread their ideologies as this will only lead to chaos and division,” said Musa, who is also Sabah chief minister.
He added that Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Umno president, felt the pulse of the people, including those in Sabah and Sarawak.
In his policy speech, Najib said the government would not allow any movement to split or take the two states out of Malaysia.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said peace and harmony in the country must be preserved at all costs.
Many countries were in chaos because of people with ill-intentions, Shafie said, adding that enforcement of the law was of important to preserve harmony and peace.
Kota Belud member of parliament Datuk Rahman Dahlan said the majority of people in the state wanted Sabah to remain in Malaysia.
“Action must be taken against the minority who want Sabah to be separated from Malaysia.”
Rahman said it was the government that was responsible for the safety and security of the country, and not the opposition.
“We are answerable to the electorate, not the opposition. They will judge us at the next general election whether we have done the right thing or not.”
United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut information chief Datuk Albert Bingkasan said the government should counter any attempt to undermine peace and harmony in the country.
“There are proper channels for people to voice their opinions, but when it comes to things like spreading the idea of secession, this needs to be nipped in the bud,” he said.
“We have always been a society that is united, and we want to protect this at all costs.”
In Kuching, the chief minister’s chief political secretary, Abdullah Saidol, said Sarawak would support any effort to control extremist and anti-establishment movements.
The Semop assemblyman said racism was not part of the state’s political scene.
“Ugly and insensitive campaigns are alien to the people of Sarawak, who are all for the true spirit of 1Malaysia,” Abdullah, who is also state Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club chairman, said in a statement yesterday.
State Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh said he supported the move to retain the act as it was relevant for a multiracial country like Malaysia.
“I believe such a move can control those trying to create disunity among the people. No one should ever ask Sabah and Sarawak to leave Malaysia. We should not look back,” Wong, who is also United People’s Party president, told the New Straits Times.
State Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing said the act should be enforced without prejudice.
Masing, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak president, said the act, once strengthened, could be used against those who called for the secession of Sabah and Sarawak.