KOTA KINABALU: DAP Sabah secretary Dr Edwin Bosi is appalled by the call of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) to revive the Internal Security Act (ISA) on grounds of too many dubious activities that are seemingly posing threats to national security.
Dr Bosi opined that PBS secretary general Datuk Johnny Mositun’s call on the government to reinstate the ISA in the light of the current situation where a number of people have dared to express racial opinions and give views on sensitive issues such as religion and the Federal Constitution as an exercise in desperation.
The Kapayan assemblyman said that Mositun had apparently forgotten that it was PBS in 1991 that had called for the repeal of ISA.
“This was stated by the former secretary general of PBS, Datuk Henrynus Amin. It now appears that PBS after re-joining the BN is now fully supporting Umno for the revival of the ISA. It is therefore obvious that Umno and PBS have teamed up in Sabah. They seem to fear the people’s views and expressions. Mositun, PBS and Umno, it seem, are still bent on subduing and constraining the people through this oppressive law,” he pointed out.
“It is indeed very sad that Mositun, PBS and Umno are seen to have lost the plot in nation building, while other Malaysians are working forward in this borderless and globalised world. With such a myopic view and low tolerance exhibited by Mositun it appears to indicate that he may not be the right person to be a deputy speaker of the Sabah State Assembly.
“As long as he (Mositun) is chairing the Assembly, expressions and views of assemblymen and assemblywomen will be suppressed. I, for one, knows that Mositun has a phobia with assemblymen who can express themselves and for that they (the assemblyperson) will not get his attention,” he added.
Dr Bosi, who is chairman of DAP Native Consultative Council, said the people, especially the natives of Sabah, do not want to be returned to live under the coconut shell. If a government is unable to take the criticisms, views and expressions of the people, then it is time to let other party to take over. Obviously, Pakatan Rakyat, being the government-in-waiting, is ready to provide good governance.
As it stands now, the people are well informed and it looks like the change of government is inevitable in the 14th general election, he said.
Dr Bosi added Mositun, PBS and Umno should heed the advice from State Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Salleh Tun Said Keruak when he reminded the government to tackle the Sedition Act properly as losing a case in court or successfully sending someone to jail brings embarrassment and further problems respectively.
According to Salleh, losing a court case or sending someone to jail, both ways the government loses. He reminded the government of the advent of news media and also how the people are well-informed now.
“Although the Defence Minister cum Umno vice president Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has stated that the government will not revive ISA, the calls, if they are made repeatedly by PBS and Umno, could raise the possibility that the government may eventually accede to them. From past observations, anything said by the government must be taken with a pinch of salt and this includes the promise to repeal the Sedition Act,” Dr Bosi said.